alight vs descend

alight is an adjective but descend is not an adjective.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
alight	No	Yes	Yes	No
descend	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, descend is a hypernym of alight; that is, descend is a word with a broader meaning than alight:

Other hypernyms of alight include come down, fall, go down.

alight (adjective)	descend (adjective)
lighted up by or as by fire or flame

alight (verb)	descend (verb)
come down	come as if by falling
to come to rest, settle	move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
	do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
	come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example