We explain what an ancestor and a descendant are, their location in the family tree and various examples.
What do ascendant and descendant mean?
It is understood by the words ascending and descending, respectively, to the parents and to the offspring of an animal or human being. Put more simply:
- Our ancestors are those who came before us and from whom we descend: our ancestors and parents, such as our father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, etc.
- Our descendants will be those who come after us and descend from us, such as our children, grandchildren, etc.
These considerations come from the idea of the family tree, which is a generational representation of, precisely, ascendants and descendants of a family. Thus, those who are at the top of the tree, the first, are the ascendants; while those who are below, detaching themselves from those above, are the descendants.
Both words come from Latin: ascendant is composed of the voices ad- (“towards”) and scanner (“climb” or “climb”), and descendant is made up of the voices of- (“from top to bottom”) and scanner (“climb” or “climb”).
Similarly, the nouns ancestry and descent are used. The first term refers to the set of previous relatives of a person, even when they are not mentioned explicitly but in a general way: "Enrique has African ancestry" (that is, among his ancestors are Africans).
On the other hand, the second term refers to those who will come after him: "Henry had a numerous offspring" (that is, he had many descendants, many children and grandchildren).
Other examples of sentences with both words are:
- Taking care of the planet is a responsibility towards our descendants.
- The sorcerer promised to put us in touch with ascendants.
- We are all descendants of migrants.
- In that country everyone believes they have ancestors
On the other hand, in biology evolutionary, it is common to use the word descendant with the sense that one or more species They come from a previous one, which existed before and which adapted to different environments, giving rise to new species. The latter, therefore, descend from the original species. For example: "Human beings descend from certain African primates."
Finally, we should not confuse these words with other terms with a similar meaning, such as:
- Ascendant, is that which rises or ascends.
- Descending, is that which goes down or descends.