ascendant

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ascendant, from Latin ascendens.

adj

1. Rising, moving upward.
2. Surpassing or controlling.
   At the same time, he sees our current society, where computers are ascendant, as lacking authority. 1995-05-21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Now, with Syria’s Kurds ascendant, hopes that the country as it is now may again be controlled from Damascus are also falling. 2015-08-01, Martin Chulov, “Ascendant Kurds emerge from Syrian civil war as major power player”, in The Guardian

noun

1. Being in control; superiority, or commanding influence; ascendancy.
   One man has the ascendant over another.
2. An ancestor.
   Ascendants and Descendants , are , by the Civil Law , stiled by the Title of Nefarious as well as Incestuous , to shew the Abhorrence that Law has of such kind of Marriages.
3. (usually followed by to) A royal heir assuming (a place of power).
   Given his father’s ghastly demise, one would not expect such glee from the ascendant to his throne.
4. Ascent; height; elevation.
5. (astrology) The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's life and fortune.
   May 26 1795, Edmund Burke, letter to Hercules Langrish taught by the jealous ascendants, sometimes by doctrine, sometimes by example, always by provocation.