Third person singular present tense of ascend; moves or goes upward; rises in rank, power, or importance.
From Latin 'ascendere' (ad- meaning 'to' + scandere meaning 'to climb'). The verb has been used in English since the Middle Ages for both literal climbing and metaphorical rising.
The word 'ascend' has an opposite 'descend' that uses the exact same Latin root 'scandere' but with 'de-' (down) instead—it's a beautiful example of how prefixes fundamentally flip a word's meaning.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.