What does ascend mean?
Word: Ascend
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Ascend means to go up or move to a higher place, as on stairs, up a hill or into the sky.
Synonyms: climb, mount
Antonyms: descend, fall
Word origin: From Latin ascendere, ad + scandere, 'to climb'.
How do you spell ascend?
Syllables: as - cend
Tricky part: The c after s makes no sound of its own, so students write asend or assend.
Watch out for: asend, assend, acend
Memory tip: Ascend and descend both hide sc. Think of the letters as Steps Climbing: s, then c.
Ascend in a sentence
Example 1: We ascended the narrow stairs of the lighthouse one step at a time.
Example 2: The hot-air balloon began to ascend as soon as the ropes were untied.
Example 3: Trekkers ascend the hill on foot to watch the sunrise.
Fun Fact
Ascend comes from the Latin scandere, which also gave English the word scan: it first meant to mark the beats of a line of poetry, step by step.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: ascend
a) lower
b) wander
c) rise
d) settle
Show answer
c) rise. To rise is to go up, just as you do when you ascend.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
ascende
a) d
b) s
c) e
d) c
Show answer
c) e. Nothing comes after the d: the word has no silent e on the end.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) balcany
b) ascend
c) mountian
d) sissors
Show answer
b) ascend. Ascend is spelt right; scissors needs a c after the first s, mountain ends in ain and balcony has an o after the c.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
asc_n_
a) e, d
b) i, d
c) e, s
d) a, d
Show answer
a) e, d. The vowel after sc is e, and the n is followed by d, not s.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which would be the hardest to ascend on foot?
a) a steep mountain path
b) a gentle slope in a park
c) a flat village road
d) a short ramp
Show answer
a) a steep mountain path
2. Which lift is ascending?
a) the one standing still at floor 3
b) the one waiting at the ground floor
c) the one going from floor 1 to floor 6
d) the one going from floor 6 to floor 1
Show answer
c) the one going from floor 1 to floor 6
