Descendants

Those who have issued from an individual, including his children, grandchildren, and their children to the remotest degree.

The descendants form what is called the direct descending line. The term is opposed to that of ascendants.

There is a difference between the number of ascendants and descendants which a man may have, but every one has the same order of ascendants, though they may not be exactly alike as to numbers, because some may be descended from a common ancestor. In the line of descendants they fork differently, according to the number of children and continue longer or shorter as generations continue or cease to exist. Many families become extinct, while others continue; the line of descendants is therefore diversified in each family.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.