ascendant

Moving upward; ascending, rising.

[A]ll true and frutefull Natvrall Philosophie, hath A double Scale or Ladder, Aſcendent and Deſcendent, aſcending from experiments to the Inuention of cauſes; and deſcending from cauſes, to the Inuention of nevve experiments; Therefore I iudge it moſt requiſite, that theſe tvvo parts be ſeuerally conſidered and handled.

[…] Chriſt, that he might not make either a ſuſpected or precarious Addreſs to Men's Underſtandings, out-does Moſes, before he diſplaces him; ſhevvs an aſcendant Spirit above him, raiſes the Dead, and cures more Plagues than he brought upon Egypt, […]

Controlling, dominant, surpassing.

In some cases the conquering state contented itself with imposing a tribute on the vanquished: who, being, in consideration of that burthen, freed from the expense and trouble of their own military and naval protection, might enjoy under it a considerable share of economical prosperity, while the ascendant community obtained a surplus of wealth, available for purposes of collective luxury or magnificence.

Without some power of persuading or confuting—of defending himself against accusation, or in case of need, accusing others—no man could possibly hold an ascendent position.

In an eastern direction rising just above the horizon.

This Phœbus promis'd, I forget the Year, / VVhen thoſe blue eyes firſt open'd on the Sphere; / Aſcendant Phœbus vvatch'd that hour vvith care, / Averted half your Parents ſimple Pray'r, / And gave you Beauty, but deny'd the Pelf / That buys your Sex a Tyrant o'er itſelf: […]

Rising towards the zenith.

[W]e muſt diſcover freezing ſtars that may reſolve the latter colds of vvinter, vvhich vvho ever deſires to invent, let him ſtudie the ſtarres of Andromeda, or the nearer conſtellation of Pegaſus, vvhich are about that time aſcendant.

Of a part of an organism: synonym of ascending (“leading or sloping upwards”).

Artere ſouſclaviere. The aſcendant branch of the great Arterie.

The degree of the zodiac or point of the ecliptic which rises in an eastern direction above the horizon at a particular moment (especially the moment of a person's birth), which is supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's fortu

[T]hey ſay that Jeſus in his natiuitie, had for his aſcendent, the ſigne of Virgo in her firſt face, as they terme it, […]

At my Nativity, my aſcendent vvas the earthly ſigne of Scorpius, I vvas borne in the Planetary houre of Saturne, and I think I have a piece of that Leaden Planet in me.

Chiefly in in the ascendant: an act of ascending or rising.

Towards the end of the session of 1836, the hopes of the Conservative party were again in the ascendant.

[T]hose poets, […] by enriching the common language and by circulating from to town to town either in person or in their compositions, contributed to fan the flame of Pan-Hellenic patriotism at a time when there were few circumstances to co-operate with them, and when the causes tending to perpetuate isolation seemed in the ascendant.

Synonym of ascendancy (“commanding influence; dominant control; superiority, supremacy”).

One man has the ascendant over another.

To my aſcendant haſting then to clime, / There are the firſt predomining the time.

An ancestor.

The Eſtate and Inheritance of a Perſon dying Inteſtate is, by Right of Devolution, according to the Civil-Lavv, given to ſuch as are ally'd to him ex Latere, commonly ſtiled Collaterals, if there be no Aſcendants or Deſcendants ſurviving at the time of his Death.

A person who ascends or goes up; specifically (usually followed by to), a person who ascends to a throne or assumes some other position of power.

Given his father’s ghastly demise, one would not expect such glee from the ascendant to his throne.

[P]ryde can endure no Superiours, no equals, no aſcendants, no ſprigs, no grafts, no likely beginnings.