adjective
noun
Other Word 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.
Ann Dunning is an entrepreneur and co-author of the book “Radical Señora Era: Ancestral Latin American Secrets for a Healthier Happier Life.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
Ancestral human remains "grave robbed" and brought to Belfast almost 200 years ago have begun their journey back to Hawaii.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2025
Ancestral divination is imperative in order to get through to that, because they’re always there watching.
From New York Times • Nov. 27, 2024
Representing his nonprofit Alok Institute, he hosted the “The Future is Ancestral: Music, a secret technology of the Indigenous Peoples” panel which highlighted how music can help preserve indigenous culture, including traditional languages.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 2, 2023
Galton called this the Ancestral Law of Heredity.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
