The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Descend \De*scend"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descended; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Descending.] [F. descendre, L. descendere,
   descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan.]
   1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards;
      to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing,
      walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; --
      the opposite of ascend.
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            The rain descended, and the floods came. --Matt.
                                                  vii. 25.
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            We will here descend to matters of later date.
                                                  --Fuller.
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   2. To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]
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            [He] with holiest meditations fed,
            Into himself descended.               --Milton.
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   3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage
      ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or
      upon.
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            And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. --Pope.
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   4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less
      virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase
      one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.
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   5. To pass from the more general or important to the
      particular or less important matters to be considered.
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   6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be
      derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to
      fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend
      from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.
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   7. (Anat.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.
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   8. (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower
      tone.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Descend \De*scend"\, v. t.
   To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower
   part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a
   ladder.
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         But never tears his cheek descended.     --Byron.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

descend
    v 1: move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way;
         "The temperature is going down"; "The barometer is
         falling"; "The curtain fell on the diva"; "Her hand went up
         and then fell again" [syn: descend, fall, go down,
         come down] [ant: arise, ascend, come up, go up,
         lift, move up, rise, uprise]
    2: come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for
       example; "She was descended from an old Italian noble
       family"; "he comes from humble origins" [syn: derive,
       come, descend]
    3: do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
       [syn: condescend, deign, descend]
    4: come as if by falling; "Night fell"; "Silence fell" [syn:
       fall, descend, settle]