\As*cen"sion\, n. [F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr.
ascendere. See {Ascend}.]
1. The act of ascending; a rising; ascent.
2. Specifically: The visible ascent of our Savior on the
   fortieth day after his resurrection. (--Acts i. 9.) Also,
   Ascension Day.
3. An ascending or arising, as in distillation; also that
   which arises, as from distillation.
         Vaporous ascensions from the stomach. --Sir T.
                                               Browne.
{Ascension Day}, the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide, the
   day on which commemorated our Savior's ascension into
   heaven after his resurrection; -- called also {Holy
   Thursday}.
{Right ascension} (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial,
   counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a
   star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the
   arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of
   Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the
   meridian with the star; -- expressed either in degrees or
   in time.
{Oblique ascension} (Astron.), an arc of the equator,
   intercepted between the first point of Aries and that
   point of the equator which rises together with a star, in
   an oblique sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted
   between the first point of Aries and that point of the
   equator that comes to the horizon with a star. It is
   little used in modern astronomy.