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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To be in the ascendant

Ascendant \As*cend"ant\, n. [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr. of ascendere.]

  1. Ascent; height; elevation. [R.]

    Sciences that were then in their highest ascendant.
    --Temple.

  2. (Astrol.) The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's life and fortune.

    Note: Hence the phrases

    To be in the ascendant, to have commanding power or influence, and

    Lord of the ascendant, one who has possession of such power or influence; as, to rule, for a while, lord of the ascendant.
    --Burke.

  3. Superiority, or commanding influence; ascendency; as, one man has the ascendant over another.

    Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a parent.
    --Robertson.

  4. An ancestor, or one who precedes in genealogy or degrees of kindred; a relative in the ascending line; a progenitor; -- opposed to descendant.
    --Ayliffe.