Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ascend \As*cend"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Ascended}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Ascending}.] [L. ascendere; ad + scandere to climb,
   mount. See {Scan}.]
   1. To move upward; to mount; to go up; to rise; -- opposed to
      {descend}.

            Higher yet that star ascends.         --Bowring.

            I ascend unto my father and your father. --John xx.
                                                  17.

   Note: Formerly used with up.

               The smoke of it ascended up to heaven. --Addison.

   2. To rise, in a figurative sense; to proceed from an
      inferior to a superior degree, from mean to noble objects,
      from particulars to generals, from modern to ancient
      times, from one note to another more acute, etc.; as, our
      inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity; to ascend to
      our first progenitor.

   Syn: To rise; mount; climb; scale; soar; tower.

Ascend \As*cend"\, v. t.
   To go or move upward upon or along; to climb; to mount; to go
   up the top of; as, to ascend a hill, a ladder, a tree, a
   river, a throne.

Source : WordNet®

ascend
     v 1: travel up, "We ascended the mountain"; "go up a ladder";
          "The mountaineers slowly ascended the steep slope" [syn:
           {go up}] [ant: {descend}]
     2: go back in order of genealogical succession; "Inheritance
        may not ascend linearly"
     3: become king or queen; "She ascended to the throne after the
        King's death"
     4: go along towards (a river's) source; "The boat ascended the
        Delaware"
     5: slope upwards; "The path ascended to the top of the hill"
     6: come up, of celestial bodies; "The sun also rises"; "The sun
        uprising sees the dusk night fled..."; "Jupiter ascends"
        [syn: {rise}, {come up}, {uprise}] [ant: {set}]