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.
Rothschild’s spiritual beliefs, coupled with the desperate state of global Jewry, led him to pour his time and resources into Palestine, the ancestral home of his people.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
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
These uncommon DNA changes can sometimes preserve clues about ancient migration patterns and long-lost ancestral populations.
From Science Daily • May 14, 2026
The highway traverses the ancestral homelands of more than 25 tribal nations.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Her long pointed wings; wide shoulders; and strong, tapered body were sculpted by the wind, the open sky, and the nature of her ancestral prey—swift birds.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
