adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of ancestral
1425–75; late Middle English aunce ( s ) trel < Middle French, equivalent to ancestre ancestor + -el -al 1
Explanation
Ancestral things have been around so long that they once belonged to your ancestors, the family members who lived before your grandparents were born. Your ancestral home is the place your great-grandparents or great-great-uncle once lived. You can also use this adjective to describe things that someone inherited from ancestors, like your friend's ancestral beach cottage or your mom's ancestral set of silverware. Ancestral comes from the Late Latin antecessor, "predecessor," or literally "forgoer," from the root antecedere, "to precede."
Vocabulary lists containing ancestral
"Earthquake"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 2–April 8, 2022
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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.
Thousands of families are still hoping to reclaim ancestral land that was taken by the communists after World War II, with some claiming ownership over land allocated to the project.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
The Indigenous Youth Association of Moskitia - the ancestral region Rivera hailed from - expressed its "profound indignation at the inhuman, cruel and unjust treatment he endured in his final years".
From BBC • May 31, 2026
These uncommon DNA changes can sometimes preserve clues about ancient migration patterns and long-lost ancestral populations.
From Science Daily • May 14, 2026
Daniel Felix, 10, looks out from atop a gargantuan stump of an old-growth redwood on his tribe’s ancestral land.
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026
Eurasia has the largest number of big terrestrial wild mammal species, whether or not ancestral to a domesticated species.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
