descend vs go down

descend and go down both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
descend	No	No	Yes	No
go down	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, descend and go down are synonyms defined as:

descend and go down: move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

Other synonyms of descend include come down, fall.

As verbs, go down is a hyponym of descend; that is, go down is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than descend:

descend (verb)	go down (verb)
come as if by falling	grow smaller
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way	stop operating
do something that one considers to be below one's dignity	be defeated
come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example	be ingested
	go under
	disappear beyond the horizon
	move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
	be recorded or remembered