Ascendency

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition where one individual or group obtains a prevailing influence or power over others exists
2. It represents the state in which there is a significant superiority or control by one party compared to the rest
3. The position in which a person or group holds dominance or control over others is recognized

Etymology: "Ascendency" is an alternative spelling of "ascendancy," and the two spellings have the same history: a word built in English from the verb "ascend" plus the suffix "-ancy," or from the adjective "ascendant" plus "-cy." Both routes trace back to the Latin "ascendere," meaning "to climb up," so the core image is of rising above others. The suffix "-ancy" marks a state or quality, which is why the word names a condition rather than an action: a position of dominance that one party has risen into. Most of the word's modern life comes from its use in ecology, where it describes how strongly a particular element or process steers a system. That technical sense was given its current shape by the ecologist Robert Ulanowicz, who applied the idea of a system's dominant controlling influence to ecological networks. The general sense of supremacy or control is the older one, and the ecological use borrows that everyday meaning and sharpens it into a measurable concept.

Synonyms: dominance, influence, control

Antonyms: subordination, inferiority