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a position of dominance or controlling influence: possession of power, superiority, or preeminence:
with his rivals in the ascendant, he soon lost his position.
an ancestor; forebear.
astrology. the point of the ecliptic or the sign and degree of the zodiac rising above the eastern horizon at the time of a birth or event: the cusp of the first house.
; rising.
superior; predominant.
botany. directed or curved upward.
historical examples

the chief of the ascendent political party was the real ruler.
beacon lights of history, volume x john lord

that man is ascendent now, does not, in the light of experience, mean necessarily that he will by any means remain so.
human life sherwood sweet knight

outside of his official duties his p-ssion for work again gained the ascendent.
the world’s great men of music harriette brower

but at this abe’s prudence deserted him, and righteous wrath rose to the ascendent.
the life of abraham lincoln ward h. lamon

to know the right time, it was necessary to observe the ascendent (see note to l. 1268).
chaucer’s works, volume 3 (of 7) geoffrey chaucer

horoscopo; in horoscopo, within that part of the sky considered as the ascendent, a. ii.
chaucer’s works, volume 6 (of 7) — introduction, glossary, and indexes geoffrey chaucer

he was persuaded that the party of the new temper, the men who may fairly be called the vindictives, were lords of the ascendent.
lincoln nathaniel wright stephenson

from then on, she was steadily in the ascendent, not only in john galbraith’s good graces, which was all of course that mattered.
the real adventure henry kitch-ll webster

under cyrus they became the ascendent power in asia, and maintained their ascendency until their conquest by alexander.
beacon lights of history, volume iv john lord

so called because astrologers looked towards the east or ascendent.
chaucer’s works, volume 3 (of 7) geoffrey chaucer

adjective
proceeding upwards; rising
dominant, superior, or influential
(botany) another term for ascending
noun
(rare) an ancestor
a position or condition of dominance, superiority or control
(astrology) (sometimes capital)

a point on the ecliptic that rises on the eastern horizon at a particular moment and changes as the earth rotates on its axis
the sign of the zodiac containing this point

in the ascendant, increasing in influence, prosperity, etc
adj.

late 14c., ascendent, astrological use is earliest, from middle french ascendant (noun and adjective) and directly from latin ascendentem (nominative ascendans), present participle of ascendere “to mount, ascend, go up” (see ascend). sense “moving upward, rising” is recorded from 1590s. in the ascendant “ruling, dominant” (not, as is often thought, “rising”) is from 1670s.