Etymograph

English

desant

Desant comes from Russian десант ‘landing (of troops)’, from French descente ‘descent’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump up, ascend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-1‘to jump up, ascend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skandō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscandō1‘to climb, ascend, mount’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdescendo2as descendō‘to climb down, to go or come down, to descend’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400descendre3‘to go down’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400descente3
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdescente4‘descent’
  8. Russianmodernдесант4desant‘landing (of troops)’
  9. Englishtodaydesant4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin descendo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French descendre
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French descente
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English desant

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-Wiktionary, Latin descendo‘to jump up, ascend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skandōWiktionary, Latin descendoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscandōWiktionary, Latin descendo‘to climb, ascend, mount’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdescendoWiktionary, Old French descendreas descendō‘to climb down, to go or come down, to descend’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400descendreWiktionary, French descente‘to go down’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400descenteWiktionary, French descente
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdescenteWiktionary, English desant‘descent’
  8. RussianmodernдесантWiktionary, English desantdesant‘landing (of troops)’
  9. EnglishtodaydesantWiktionary, English desant

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump up, ascend’

scandalous, descend, scala, echelon, slander, skein, 11 more

through Latin scandō ‘to climb, ascend, mount’

scale, scan, ascension, scalar, ascendant, 5 more

Today it means

noun A member of the Russian Airborne Troops.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “desant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin descendo, Old French descendre, French descente. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skend- / desant

Shirt and support for this word