ancestor
Pluralancestors
Verbancestors, ancestoring, ancestored
Pluralancestors
Formsancestors, ancestoring, ancestored
- 1A family member from long ago that you are descended from.
Like the root of a family tree that every branch grows from.
Her great-grandfather was an ancestor she never had the chance to meet.
My ancestors came from a small fishing village in Italy.
Similarforebear, forefather, progenitor
Oppositedescendant
Note
- 2An older kind of thing that a newer thing came from.
Like an old model of car that newer ones were built from.
The penny-farthing was an ancestor of the modern bicycle.
Today's laptops grew out of clumsy ancestors the size of rooms.
Similarforerunner, precursor, predecessor
Oppositedescendant
Note
- 3Someone who had the same job or role long before you.
Like an old job that slowly turned into a new job over time.
The town crier was an ancestor of the modern news reporter.
Medieval guild masters were the ancestors of today's trade unions.
Similarforerunner, predecessor, precursor
Note
- 4
- 5The person whose property passes down to an heir.
Like the older relative whose house is handed down to you.
The court identified the ancestor whose land the heir would inherit.
When the ancestor dies without a will, the law decides who gets the property.
Note
- 6To be the older relative that a later person is descended from.
Like being the first plant that a whole field later grew from.
A single founding pair can ancestor an entire herd.
Those early settlers ancestored most families in the valley.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Latin antecessor, meaning "one who goes before," from ante- ("before") plus cedo ("to go"). It reached English through Old French.