ancestry

[an-ses-tree, -suh-stree]

noun

plural

ancestries 

1. family or ancestral descent; lineage.

   Synonyms: stock, genealogy, pedigree

2. honorable or distinguished descent.

   famous by title and ancestry.

3. a series of ancestors.

   His ancestry settled Utah.

   Synonyms: line, family

4. the inception or origin of a phenomenon, object, idea, or style.

5. the history or developmental process of a phenomenon, object, idea, or style.

ancestry

/ ˈænsɛstrɪ /

noun

1. lineage or descent, esp when ancient, noble, or distinguished

2. ancestors collectively

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancestry¹

1300–50; Middle English, equivalent to ancestre ancestor + -y ³; replacing Middle English aunce ( s ) trie < Anglo-French

Example Sentences

Border Patrol agents violated the Constitution when they stopped a car on a freeway near San Clemente because its occupants appeared to be “of Mexican ancestry.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"We want to understand our ancestry and the migration routes of our ancestors," says professor G Kumaresan, who heads the genetics department at the university.

Read more on BBC

"We checked their phones and found suspicious contacts from Bangladesh. Some of them also failed to answer questions about their ancestry during interrogation," he said.

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“I think Willy’s biggest issue around it is not honoring or working with the communities it comes from, even if he has Mexican ancestry.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Speaking on former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, she said she was "Nigerian through ancestry" but "by identity, I'm not really".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ancestor 
• antecedent 
• descent 
• extraction 
• forebear 
• genealogy 
• heritage 
• lineage 
• origin 
• parentage