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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ancestress
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ancestors
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of ancestor

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

---

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

The discovery is especially important for understanding the origins of crown Hominoidea, the evolutionary group that includes the last common ancestor of all living apes and its descendants.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

Scientists believe that the common ancestor of modern primates already possessed a moderately sized brain with at least some folding.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 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

In the heart of the bayou Abigail encountered my ancestor, another escaped slave girl named Santana.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

A local spirit medium sprinkles blood on the ground to appease the ancestors before blessing the kill and presiding over the distribution of the meat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026

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

In the mid-17th century Morris’s ancestors settled in what would become the Bronx, N.Y., and flourished.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

As they crossed over, the ancestors played mbiras and drums from the depths of the water, and after they had passed, the river came together again.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• forebear
• forefather
• founder

---