Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Descens(e, Descence, n. [ME. descense (a 1440), OF. descens(e, L. dēscensus. Cf. Discens(e.] a. Descent by lineage. b. Descent in space. c1420 Wynt. viii. 1459.
Apperand lyk, that thai had bene Off kyn be descens lyneale Ib. ix. 2816.
The tend persown he wes … In lineale descens fra sanct Margret a1500 Henr. Orph. 3.
His grete ancester and linyall descense [he] Suld first extoll 1513 Doug. iii. iii. 39 (R).
From that ilke prince … Is the descence of our genology — 1587-99 Hume iv. 117.
What hart can think … th. appointed place, Of Christs descense, downe throw the firmament