English Explanatory Dictionary

condescend

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To come down or go down; to descend.
  2. To come down from a superior position and do something; to deign; (with a negative connotation) to stoop.
  3. To treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.
  4. Chiefly followed by on or upon: to go into detail; to particularize, to specify.
  5. To agree to something; to accede, to assent, to consent; also, to reach an agreement.
  6. To give way or yield in a deferential manner; to be amenable or compliant.
  7. To graciously give; to vouchsafe.
  8. To reach a certain point; to settle on.
  9. To secretly make plans, usually to bring about a bad or illegal result; to conspire, to plot.
  10. To treat (someone) as though inferior; to talk down to (someone); to patronize.
  11. Often preceded by the dummy pronoun it: to agree to (something); to consent.

Pronunciation

/ˌkɒndɪˈsɛnd/ /ˌkɑndəˈsɛnd/ En-us-condescend.ogg

Word forms

condescend condescends condescending condescended no-table-tags glossary condescendest condescendedst condescendeth

Etymology

From Middle English condescenden, condescendre (“to deign, condescend; to accede graciously; to agree; to agree to, give consent; to make a concession, yield; etc.”), from Old French condescendre (“to descend, go down; to agree or assent to”) (modern French condescendre), from Ecclesiastical Latin condēscendere, the present active infinitive of condēscendō (“to stoop down; to condescend”), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + dēscendō (“to come or go down, descend; to stoop down”) (from dē- (prefix denoting reversal or undoing) + scandō (“to ascend, mount; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; etc.”))).

Synonyms

belittle

Antonyms

discondescend

Related words

condescendence condescend upon condescension descend put on airs

Derived words

condescendancy condescender condescending condescent discondescend uncondescendable uncondescending

Translations

Belarusian: удастоіць Belarusian: удастойваць Bulgarian: благоволявам Czech: snížit se Czech: povyšovat se Czech: vyvyšovat se Finnish: alentua German: herablassen German: bevormunden German: herablassend behandeln Greek: καταδέχομαι Hungarian: méltat Hungarian: méltóztatik Hungarian: méltóztat Hungarian: kegyeskedik Hungarian: leereszkedik Hungarian: ereszkedik Hungarian: lesüllyed Hungarian: süllyed Hungarian: fölényeskedik Hungarian: lekezel Italian: accondiscendere Italian: concedere Macedonian: спу́шти Macedonian: спу́шта Macedonian: благо́воли Māori: tapatu Polish: zniżać się Polish: zniżyć się Polish: traktować z góry Polish: potraktować z góry Russian: снизойти́ Spanish: condescender Spanish: huevonear Spanish: huevear Swedish: bevärdiga sig Thai: ถ่อมตัวลง Thai: ทำตัวเหนือใส่ Dutch: neerbuigend behandelen Dutch: bevoogden
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on C Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary