Dissent vs descent

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Grammarist

Dissent means to disagree with a commonly or officially held opinion, to refuse to conform with a church’s orthodox beliefs. Dissent may be used as a noun or a verb, related words are dissents, dissented, dissenting, dissentingly, dissenter, dissension. The word dissent is derived from the Latin word dissentire, which means to disagree, to quarrel, to contradict.

Descent means to move in a downward direction, to slope downward, to fall, to decline. Descent may also refer to a degeneration, to move from a higher state to a lower state. Descent also refers to a person’s lineage. Descent is a noun, the verb form is descend. The word descent comes from the Old French word descente meaning to slope downward.

Examples

Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Wednesday said that a spate of negative reports about the government’s performance were not an outcome of its policies, but of “unsuccessfully manufactured dissent” against it. (The Hindustan Times)

Keep that in mind as we go on through the news that the Supreme Court Monday, by a 7-1 vote, Mr. Justice Thomas dissenting, ordered that a man named Timothy Foster, currently residing on death row in Georgia, be given a new trial, as explained by Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal. (Esquire Magazine)

The letter cited several causes of concern: In March, Ms. Lynch testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI was looking into information regarding climate change dissent and “whether or not it meets the criteria for what we could take action on.” (The Washington Times)

After enjoying the scenery at the top, the group started their descent the mountain about 11.30am. (The New Straits Times)

After he returned to Strydom the pair began their descent, but it was soon clear that something was seriously amiss. (The Guardian)