ascendant vs father

ascendant and father both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
ascendant	Yes	Yes	No	No
father	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, father is a hyponym of ascendant; that is, father is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than ascendant:

ascendant: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
father: the founder of a family

Other hyponyms of ascendant include ancestress, forbear, forebear, forefather, sire, foremother, primogenitor, progenitor.

ascendant (noun)	father (noun)
someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)	a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
position or state of being dominant or in control	the founder of a family
	a person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization
	a person who founds or establishes some institution
	the head of an organized crime family

ascendant (adjective)	father (adjective)
tending or directed upward
most powerful or important or influential

ascendant (verb)	father (verb)
	make (offspring) by reproduction