WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : As*cen"sion
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr. ascendere. See Ascend.]
Definition : 1. The act of ascending; a rising; ascent.

2. Specifically: The visible ascent of our Savior on the fortieth day after his resurrection. (Acts i. 9.) Also, Ascension Day.

3. An ascending or arising, as in distillation; also that which arises, as from distillation. Vaporous ascensions from the stomach. Sir T. Browne. Ascension Day, the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide, the day on which commemorated our Savior's ascension into heaven after his resurrection; -- called also Holy Thursday. -- Right ascension (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial, counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the meridian with the star; -- expressed either in degrees or in time. -- Oblique ascension (Astron.), an arc of the equator, intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator which rises together with a star, in an oblique sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the horizon with a star. It is little used in modern astronomy.


Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913