ancestor

American  

[an-ses-ter, -suh-ster] / ˈæn sɛs tər, -sə stər /

noun

• ancestors
  plural

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.

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ancestor British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ancestress
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ancestors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ancestor

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

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Explanation

An ancestor came before. Your grandmother's grandmother and any relative before her is one of your ancestors. Ante-, a common Latin prefix, means "before." Cedere is Latin for "to go." So, an ancestor is someone who has gone before us. Evolutionary biologists have advanced the theory that all life on earth descends from a common ancestor. Ancestor can also mean "prototype" or "forerunner." The abacus is a distant ancestor of today's supercomputers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ancestor ancestors

Later in the 19th century, King Charles’s ancestor King William IV spent decades opposing abolition before eventually giving royal sign off on laws to make slavery illegal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Importantly, the researchers are not claiming that Masripithecus was a direct ancestor of humans or even necessarily the direct ancestor of living apes.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

"A reimagined Citroën 2CV should give a big nod to its ancestor - especially on price and design simplicity as well as visual cues," he says.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Paul Theroux’s travelogue takes him to the land of an ancestor who arrived by “dumb luck and good timing.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Again as we discussed above, the crop’s rapid spread preempted any possible further attempts to domesticate its relatives, as well as to redomesticate its ancestor.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

By bringing these sources of evidence together, the scientists reconstructed relationships among ancient and modern apes and explored where their shared ancestors may have lived.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

“This work represents more than land conservation. It represents our history, our identity, our connection, our ancestors and our responsibility to the future generations.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

Our ancestors crossed the Atlantic for land, and for land they went west on their Conestoga wagons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Caricom Reparations Commission chair Hilary Beckles has repeatedly spoken out about ex-Conservative Party lawmaker and UK landowner Richard Drax, 68, whose ancestors established Drax Hall Estate in Barbados in the mid-17th century.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

Your ancestors have watched over you, little Disaster, but this time it was I who aided you.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

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Related Words

• forebear
• forefather
• founder

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