The difference between Descendant and Progeny

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 progeny means offspring or descendants considered as a group.


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

check bellow for the other definitions of Descendant and Progeny

  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. Progeny as a noun (uncountable):

    Offspring or descendants considered as a group.

    Examples:

    "I treasure this five-generation photograph of my great-great grandmother and her progeny."

  2. Progeny as a noun (uncountable, obsolete):

    Descent, lineage, ancestry.

  3. Progeny as a noun (countable):

    A result of a creative effort.

    Examples:

    "His dissertation is his most important intellectual progeny to date."