As*cent" (&?;). [Formed like descent, as if from a F.
ascente, fr. a verb ascendre, fr. L. ascendere. See
Ascend, Descent.] 1. The act of rising;
motion upward; rise; a mounting upward; as, he made a tedious
ascent; the ascent of vapors from the earth.
To him with swift ascent he up returned.
Milton.
2. The way or means by which one ascends.
3. An eminence, hill, or high place.
Addison.
4. The degree of elevation of an object, or the
angle it makes with a horizontal line; inclination; rising grade; as, a
road has an ascent of five degrees.