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n. [ LL. accrescentia. ] Continuous growth; an accretion. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The silent accrescence of belief from the unwatched depositions of a general, never contradicted hearsy. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. accrescens, -entis, p. pr. of accrescere; ad + crescere to grow. See Crescent. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Growing; increasing. Shuckford. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Growing larger after flowering. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Cf. F. acescence. See Acescent. ] The quality of being acescent; the process of acetous fermentation; a moderate degree of sourness. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acescens, -entis, p. pr. of acescere to turn sour; inchoative of acere to be sour: cf. F. acescent. See Acid. ] Turning sour; readily becoming tart or acid; slightly sour. Faraday. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A substance liable to become sour. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acquiescence. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A silent or passive assent or submission, or a submission with apparent content; -- distinguished from avowed consent on the one hand, and on the other, from opposition or open discontent; quiet satisfaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Crim. Law) (a) Submission to an injury by the party injured. (b) Tacit concurrence in the action of another. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acquiescent; acquiescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acquiescens, -centis; p. pr. ] Resting satisfied or submissive; disposed tacitly to submit; assentive; as, an acquiescent policy. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an acquiescent manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adeps, adipis, fat + -escent. ] Becoming fatty. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adnascens, p. pr. of adnasci to be born, grow. ] Growing to or on something else. “An adnascent plant.” Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Fr., fr. L. adolescentia. ] The state of growing up from childhood to manhood or womanhood; youth, or the period of life between puberty and maturity, generally considered to be, in the male sex, from fourteen to twenty-one. Sometimes used with reference to the lower animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being adolescent; youthfulness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A youth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adolescens, p. pr. of adolescere to grow up to; ad + the inchoative olescere to grow: cf. F. adolescent. See Adult. ] Growing; advancing from childhood to maturity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Schools, unless discipline were doubly strong,
Detain their adolescent charge too long. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of becoming white; whitishness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. albescens, p. pr. of albescere to grow white, fr. albus white. ] Becoming white or whitish; moderately white. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. A tendency to become alkaline; or the state of a substance in which alkaline properties begin to be developed, or to predominant. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. alcalescent. ] Tending to the properties of an alkali; slightly alkaline. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Counteracting, or preserving from, putrefaction; antiseptic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being arborescent; the resemblance to a tree in minerals, or crystallizations, or groups of crystals in that form; as, the arborescence produced by precipitating silver. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arborescens, p. pr. of arborescere to become a tree, fr. arbor tree. ] Resembling a tree; becoming woody in stalk; dendritic; having crystallizations disposed like the branches and twigs of a tree. “Arborescent hollyhocks.” Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Ascended; p. pr. & vb. n. Ascending. ] [ L. ascendere; ad + scandere to climb, mount. See Scan. ] 1. To move upward; to mount; to go up; to rise; -- opposed to descend. [ 1913 Webster ]

Higher yet that star ascends. Bowring. [ 1913 Webster ]

I ascend unto my father and your father. John xx. 17. [ 1913 Webster ]

Formerly used with up. [ 1913 Webster ]

The smoke of it ascended up to heaven. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To rise, in a figurative sense; to proceed from an inferior to a superior degree, from mean to noble objects, from particulars to generals, from modern to ancient times, from one note to another more acute, etc.; as, our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity; to ascend to our first progenitor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To rise; mount; climb; scale; soar; tower. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To go or move upward upon or along; to climb; to mount; to go up the top of; as, to ascend a hill, a ladder, a tree, a river, a throne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being ascended. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. Same as Ascendency. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr. of ascendere. ] 1. Ascent; height; elevation. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Sciences that were then in their highest ascendant. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astrol.) The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's life and fortune. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Hence the phrases
To be in the ascendant, to have commanding power or influence, and
Lord of the ascendant, one who has possession of such power or influence; as, to rule, for a while, lord of the ascendant. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Superiority, or commanding influence; ascendency; as, one man has the ascendant over another. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a parent. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An ancestor, or one who precedes in genealogy or degrees of kindred; a relative in the ascending line; a progenitor; -- opposed to descendant. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Governing or controlling influence; the state that exists when one person or group has power over another; domination; power. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

An undisputed ascendency. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Custom has an ascendency over the understanding. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Control; authority; influence; sway; dominion; prevalence; domination; dominance; ascendance; ascendence. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. 1. Rising toward the zenith; above the horizon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The constellation . . . about that time ascendant. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Rising; ascending. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Superior; surpassing; ruling. [ 1913 Webster ]

An ascendant spirit over him. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ascendant community obtained a surplus of wealth. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

Without some power of persuading or confuting, of defending himself against accusations, . . . no man could possibly hold an ascendent position. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. tending or directed upward.
Syn. -- ascendant, ascensive. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

rooted and ascendant strength like that of foliage. John Ruskin [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having the most important influence.
Syn. -- ascendant, dominating, prestigious. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. position or state of being dominant or in control. that idea was in the ascendant.
Syn. -- ascendant. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote that a grandparent).
Syn. -- ancestor, ascendant, antecedent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. ascendibilis. ] Capable of being ascended; climbable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Rising; moving upward; as, an ascending kite. -- As*cend"ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

Ascending latitude (Astron.), the increasing latitude of a planet. Ferguson. --
Ascending line (Geneol.), the line of relationship traced backward or through one's ancestors. One's father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, etc., are in the line direct ascending. --
Ascending node having, that node of the moon or a planet wherein it passes the ecliptic to proceed northward. It is also called the northern node. Herschel. --
Ascending series. (Math.) (a) A series arranged according to the ascending powers of a quantity. (b) A series in which each term is greater than the preceding. --
Ascending signs, signs east of the meridian. [1913 Webster]

n. [ F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr. ascendere. See Ascend. ] 1. The act of ascending; a rising; ascent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: The visible ascent of our Savior on the fortieth day after his resurrection. (Acts i. 9.) Also, Ascension Day. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An ascending or arising, as in distillation; also that which arises, as from distillation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vaporous ascensions from the stomach. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ascension Day, the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide, the day on which commemorated our Savior's ascension into heaven after his resurrection; -- called also Holy Thursday. --
Right ascension (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial, counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the meridian with the star; -- expressed either in degrees or in time. --
Oblique ascension (Astron.), an arc of the equator, intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator which rises together with a star, in an oblique sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the horizon with a star. It is little used in modern astronomy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to ascension; connected with ascent; ascensive; tending upward; as, the ascensional power of a balloon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ascensional difference (Astron.), the difference between oblique and right ascension; -- used chiefly as expressing the difference between the time of the rising or setting of a body and six o'clock, or six hours from its meridian passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Ascend. ] 1. Rising; tending to rise, or causing to rise. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) Augmentative; intensive. Ellicott. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Formed like descent, as if from a F. ascente, fr. a verb ascendre, fr. L. ascendere. See Ascend, Descent. ] 1. The act of rising; motion upward; rise; a mounting upward; as, he made a tedious ascent; the ascent of vapors from the earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

To him with swift ascent he up returned. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The way or means by which one ascends. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An eminence, hill, or high place. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The degree of elevation of an object, or the angle it makes with a horizontal line; inclination; rising grade; as, a road has an ascent of five degrees. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. self induced fluorescence. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + crescent. ] Having the form of a double crescent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. bi`os life + luminescence. ] a type of luminescence produced by biological or biochemical processes, such as a glowworm glow or the action of luciferase on luciferin. A well-known example is that of firefly luminescence. See also luciferin. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. calescens, p. pr. of calescere, incho. of calere to be warm. ] Growing warmth; increasing heat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. calor heat. ] (Physics) The conversion of obscure radiant heat into light; the transmutation of rays of heat into others of higher refrangibility. Tyndall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Incandescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. candescens, -entis, p. pr. of candescere, v. incho. fr. candere to shine. ] Glowing; luminous; incandescent. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. canescens, p. pr. of canescere, v. inchoative of canere to be white. ] Growing white, or assuming a color approaching to white. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. caulis stalk, stem: cf. F. caulescent. ] (Bot.) Having a leafy stem. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. caeruleus sky-blue + -escent. ] Tending to cerulean; light bluish. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Somewhat cinereous; of a color somewhat resembling that of wood ashes. [ 1913 Webster ]