ancestor

[an-ses-ter, -suh-ster]

noun

1. a person from whom one is descended; forebear; progenitor.

2. Biology.,  the actual or hypothetical form or stock from which an organism has developed or descended.

3. 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.

4. a person who serves as an influence or model for another; one from whom mental, artistic, spiritual, etc., descent is claimed.

   a philosophical ancestor.

5. Law.,  a person from whom an heir derives an inheritance.

ancestor

/ ˈænsɛstə /

noun

1. (often plural) a person from whom another is directly descended, esp someone more distant than a grandparent; forefather

2. an early type of animal or plant from which a later, usually dissimilar, type has evolved

3. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancestor¹

1250–1300; Middle English ancestre < Old French (with t developed between s and r ) < Latin antecessor antecessor

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancestor¹

C13: from Old French ancestre, from Late Latin antecēssor one who goes before, from Latin antecēdere; see _antecede

Example Sentences

At that time, the archipelago was home to communities whose ancestors had come from North Africa more than a thousand years earlier.

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Although they speak with a slight accent, I believe with all my heart that they are as American as someone whose ancestors came on the Mayflower.

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Their study suggests that the mouth-on-mouth kiss evolved more than 21 million years ago, and was something that the common ancestor of humans and other great apes probably indulged in.

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Asamando was one of the story-time subjects that Grandma would talk about, this magical underworld where age, sickness, and pain don’t exist—where the ancestors dance with the abosom, the Ghanaian gods and spirits.

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“We welcome you to Ashton Place, respected ancestors!”

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Related Words

• forebear 
• forefather 
• founder