ancient

¹ American  

[eyn-shuhnt] / ˈeɪn ʃənt /

adjective

1. of or in time long past, especially before the end of the Western Roman Empire a.d. 476.

   ancient history.

   Synonyms:

   early

   Antonyms:

   recent

2. dating from a remote period; of great age: ancient trees.

   ancient rocks;

   ancient trees.

   Synonyms:

   immemorial, age-old

   Antonyms:

   recent, modern, new

3. very old; aged.

   She's fifteen, which is ancient for a dog that size.

4. being old in wisdom and experience; venerable.

5. old-fashioned or antique.

   Synonyms:

   vintage, retro, old-time, old-fashioned, olden, antique

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noun

1. a person who lived in ancient times.

2. one of the classical writers of antiquity.

3. a very old or aged person, especially if venerable or patriarchal.

4. ancients,

   1. Usually the ancients the civilized peoples, nations, or cultures of antiquity, as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and Egyptians.

   2. the writers, artists, and philosophers of ancient times, especially those of Greece and Rome.

ancient ² American  

[eyn-shuhnt] / ˈeɪn ʃənt /

noun

Obsolete.

1. the bearer of a flag.

2. a flag, banner, or standard; ensign.

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ancient ¹ British  

/ ˈeɪnʃənt /

adjective

1. dating from very long ago

   ancient ruins

2. very old; aged

3. of the far past, esp before the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (476 _ad ) Compare medieval modern

4. law having existed since before the time of legal memory

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noun

1. (often plural) a member of a civilized nation in the ancient world, esp a Greek, Roman, or Hebrew

2. (often plural) one of the classical authors of Greek or Roman antiquity

3. archaic an old man

ancient ² British  

/ ˈeɪnʃənt /

noun

1. a flag or other banner; standard

2. a standard-bearer; ensign

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Synonym Usage

Ancient, antiquated, antique, old-fashioned refer to something dating from the past. Ancient implies existence or first occurrence in a distant past: an ancient custom. Antiquated connotes something too old or no longer useful: an antiquated building. Antique suggests a curious or pleasing quality in something old: antique furniture. Old-fashioned may disparage something as being out of date or may approve something old as being superior: an old-fashioned hat; old-fashioned courtesy.

Other Word Forms

• ancientness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of ancient¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English auncien, from Anglo-French; Old French ancien, from unattested Vulgar Latin antiānus, equivalent to Latin ante(ā) “before”+ -ānus adjective suffix; late Middle English forms with -t- developed by confusion with the present participle ending -nt; see -an, ante-, -ent

Origin of ancient²

First recorded in 1550–60; variant of ensign by confusion with ancient ¹

Explanation

Ancient means very old. Sometimes there's a sense of "older than old." My grandmother, bless her soul, lived until she was positively ancient. Ancient art is that made in places and times we refer to as Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt, and "an ancient" is someone who lived either during those eras, or in a Biblical context, before the flood that brought us the story of Noah and the Ark.

Example Sentences

Some argued he was an ancient fertility figure, others a Roman Hercules, or even a later satire of Oliver Cromwell.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

Many are believed to be pieces of ancient planetesimals that have changed very little since the Solar System's earliest days.

From Science Daily • May 26, 2026

For those who study ancient Greece, the classical era, roughly the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., presents a case study in the failure to learn from history.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

Not the tropical kind you may be thinking of, but an ancient and precious woodland known as a temperate rainforest.

From BBC • May 25, 2026

On the screen, a boy from Switzerland named Wolfgang was showing pictures of the ancient artifacts he’d found when a ten-thousand-year-old glacier melted near his house in the mountains.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

Related Words

• age-old
• antique
• archaic
• hoary
• old-fashioned
• timeworn
• venerable