Condescend
Pronunciation
- RP IPA: /ˌkɒndɪˈsɛnd/
- US IPA: /ËŒkÉ‘ËndɪˈsÉ›nd/
Origin
From Middle English condescenden, from Old French condescendre, from Late Latin condescendere ("to let one's self down, stoop, condescend"), from Latin com- ("together") + descendere ("to come down"); see descend.
Full definition of condescend
Verb
- (intransitive) To come down from one's superior position; to deign (to do something).
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperor, act 1, sc. 2:Spain's mighty monarch...
In gracious clemency, does condescend
On these conditions, to become your friend. - 1847, Anne Bronte, Agnes Grey, ch. 5:Fanny and little Harriet he seldom condescended to notice; but Mary Ann was something of a favourite.
- (intransitive) To treat (someone) as though inferior; to be patronizing (toward someone); to talk down (to someone).
- 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. 29:"You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a brilliant and beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart."
- 1880, Charlotte M. Yonge, Clever Woman of the Family, ch. 7:Ermine never let any one be condescending to her, and conducted the conversation with her usual graceful good breeding.
- 1907, Robert Chambers, The Younger Set Chapter 8, At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To consent, agree.
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1134-36:Can they think me so broken, so debased
With corporal servitude, that my mind ever
Will condescend to such absurd commands? - 1868, Horatio Alger, Struggling Upward, ch. 3:"This is the pay I get for condescending to let you go with me."
- (intransitive, obsolete) To come down.
Usage notes
This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See
In sense “to talk downâ€, the derived participial adjective condescending (and corresponding adverb condescendingly) are more common than the verb itself.