ancestor
Americannoun
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a person from whom one is descended; forebear; progenitor.
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Biology. the actual or hypothetical form or stock from which an organism has developed or descended.
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an object, idea, style, or occurrence serving as a prototype, forerunner, or inspiration to a later one.
The balloon is an ancestor of the modern dirigible.
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a person who serves as an influence or model for another; one from whom mental, artistic, spiritual, etc., descent is claimed.
a philosophical ancestor.
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Law. a person from whom an heir derives an inheritance.
noun
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(often plural) a person from whom another is directly descended, esp someone more distant than a grandparent; forefather
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an early type of animal or plant from which a later, usually dissimilar, type has evolved
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a person or thing regarded as a forerunner of a later person or thing
the ancestor of the modern camera
Other Word Forms
- ancestress noun
Etymology
Origin of ancestor
1250–1300; Middle English ancestre < Old French (with t developed between s and r ) < Latin antecessor antecessor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
However, many of the fruit species they regularly eat contain measurable ethanol, indicating that alcohol is a routine part of their menu and was probably present in the diets of our human ancestors as well.
From Science Daily
The final play of Stoppard’s brilliant career was sparked by the playwright learning of the plight of his Jewish ancestors upon his mother’s death in 1996.
From Los Angeles Times
Yet Miles’ experience highlights a recurring problem: Native Americans, the first inhabitants of what is now the United States, are sometimes treated as foreigners by the very government their ancestors predated.
From Salon
This link strengthens the case that two separate species of early human ancestors were living in the same region at the same time.
From Science Daily
At that time, the archipelago was home to communities whose ancestors had come from North Africa more than a thousand years earlier.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
