The difference between Descendant and Offspring

When used as nouns, descendant means one who is the progeny of a specified person, at any distance of time or through any number of generations, whereas offspring means a person's daughter(s) and/or son(s).

Descendant is also adjective with the meaning: descending from a biological ancestor.

check bellow for the other definitions of Descendant and Offspring

  1. Descendant as an adjective:

    descending from a biological ancestor.

  2. Descendant as an adjective:

    proceeding from a figurative ancestor or source.

  1. Descendant as a noun (literally):

    One who is the progeny of a specified person, at any distance of time or through any number of generations.

    Examples:

    "The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild."

  2. Descendant as a noun (figuratively):

    A thing that derives directly from a given precursor or source.

    Examples:

    "This famous medieval manuscript has many descendants."

  3. Descendant as a noun (biology):

    A later evolutionary type.

    Examples:

    "Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves."

  4. Descendant as a noun (linguistics):

    A language that is descended from another.

    Examples:

    "English and Scots are the descendants of Old English."

  5. Descendant as a noun (linguistics):

    A word or form in one language that is descended from a counterpart in an ancestor language.

  1. Offspring as a noun:

    A person's daughter(s) and/or son(s); a person's children.

  2. Offspring as a noun:

    All of a person's descendants, including further generations.

  3. Offspring as a noun:

    An animal or plant's progeny or young.

  4. Offspring as a noun (figuratively):

    Anything produced; the result of an entity's efforts.

    Examples:

    "Artists often treasure their works as their immortal offspring."

  5. Offspring as a noun (computing):

    A process launched by another process.

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