1.
[syn: descendants, posterity]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
descendants \descendants\ n.
all of the offspring of a given progenitor.
Syn: posterity.
[WordNet 1.5]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
descendants
n 1: all of the offspring of a given progenitor; "we must secure
the benefits of freedom for ourselves and our posterity"
[syn: descendants, posterity]
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
DESCENDANTS. Those who have issued from an individual, and include his
children, grandchildren, and their children to the remotest degree. Ambl.
327 2 Bro. C. C. 30; Id. 230 3 Bro. C. C. 367; 1 Rop. Leg. 115; 2 Bouv. n.
1956.
2. The descendants form what is called the direct descending line. Vide
Line. The term is opposed to that of ascendants. (q.v.)
3. There is a difference between the number of ascendants and
descendants which a man may have every one his the same order of ascendants,
though they may not be exactly alike as to numbers, because some may be
descended from a common ancestor. In the line of descendants they fork
differently, according to the number of children and continue longer or
shorter as generations continue or cease to exist. Many families become
extinct, while others continue; the line of descendants is therefore
diversified in each family.