Dissent - descent - descend

The words dissent, descent, descend are often confused. See also assent - ascent - ascend.

• To descend is a verb meaning 'to go down'. Pron.: 'di-SEND', or IPA: /dɪˈsÉ›nd/. The past tense is descended. The noun of related meaning, in both literal (moving) and figurative (mostly genealogical) senses, is descent, pron. 'di-SCENT', IPA: /dɪˈsÉ›nt/; it sounds the same as dissent.

• To dissent is a verb meaning 'to disagree'. Pron.: 'dis-ENT', IPA: /dɪˈsÉ›nt/; past tense dissented. The noun of similar meaning is dissent. For most speakers, the sound of dissent is identical to that of descent - they are homophones.

The word decent is sometimes confused by the spellchecker with descent. They sound different. In decent the stress is on the first syllable: 'DEE-s'nt', IPA: /ˈdiːs^ənt/, whereas in descent the stress is on the second syllable: 'de-SCENT', IPA: /dɪˈsɛnt/.