Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - descendant

 I. adjective  also descendent  Etymology: Middle English dessendaunte, from Anglo-French ~, from Latin descendent-, descendens, present participle of descendere  Date: circa 1555  1. moving or directed downward  2. proceeding from an ancestor or source  II. noun  also descendent  Etymology: French & Latin; French ~, from Late Latin descendent-, descendens, from Latin  Date: 1600  1. one descended from another or from a common stock  2. one deriving directly from a precursor or prototype