ancestral

[an-ses-truhl]

adjective

1. pertaining to ancestors; descending or claimed from ancestors.

   an ancestral home.

2. serving as a forerunner, prototype, or inspiration.

ancestral

/ ænˈsɛstrəl /

adjective

1. of, inherited from, or derived from ancestors

   his ancestral home

noun

1. 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

Other Word Forms

• ancestrally adverb
• nonancestral adjective
• nonancestrally adverb
• pseudoancestral adjective
• pseudoancestrally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancestral¹

1425–75; late Middle English aunce ( s ) trel < Middle French, equivalent to ancestre ancestor + -el -al ¹

Example Sentences

A former US filmmaker has launched a High Court battle against an English council to gain control of the ancestral stately home he spent seven years trying to save from ruin.

From BBC

In Asian culture, there are lots of shrines in homes, ancestral shrines with pictures of grandmas and candles.

From Los Angeles Times

He pauses: “It was ancestral spirits, whatever you want to call it,” adding with a mischievous cackle, “But not voodoo!”

From Los Angeles Times

"We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important ecosystems existing there. There may be ancestral remains."

From BBC

Staff detailed Spanish missionaries exploiting the work of Indigenous people in the Bay Area to build California missions and congressional actions stripping Coast Miwok people of title to their ancestral lands, including Muir Woods.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• familial 
• tribal