travel up, "We ascended the mountain"; "go up a ladder"; "The mountaineers slowly ascended the steep slope" slope upwards; "The path ascended to the top of the hill" go along towards (a river's) source; "The boat ascended the Delaware" become king or queen; "She ascended to the throne after the King's death" go back in order of genealogical succession; "Inheritance may not ascend linearly
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