ancestral

[ an-ses-truh l ]
/ ænˈsɛs trəl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR ancestral ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to ancestors; descending or claimed from ancestors: an ancestral home.
serving as a forerunner, prototype, or inspiration.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
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decorum
the act of or need for making up one's mind.
dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.
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Origin of ancestral

1425–75; late Middle English aunce(s)trel < Middle French, equivalent to ancestre ancestor + -el -al1

OTHER WORDS FROM ancestral

Words nearby ancestral

anc., ancaeus, ancaster, ancestor, ancestor worship, ancestral, ancestress, ancestry, anch'ing, anchises, ancho
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to ancestral

familial, tribal, affiliated, congenital, inborn, inbred, inherited, innate, maternal, old, past, paternal, consanguine, consanguineous, genealogical, lineal, totemic

Example sentences from the Web for ancestral

British Dictionary definitions for ancestral

ancestral
/ (ænˈsɛstrəl) /

adjective

of, inherited from, or derived from ancestorshis ancestral home

noun

logic a relation that holds between x and y if there is a chain of instances of a given relation leading from x to y. Thus the ancestral of parent of is ancestor of, since x is the ancestor of y if and only if x is a parent of…a parent of…a parent of y

Derived forms of ancestral

ancestrally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012