ancestor

noun
an·ces·tor
/ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/

One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather; a forebear.

Other meanings

An earlier type; a progenitor.
“This fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse.”
One from whom an estate has descended;—the correlative of heir.

Synonyms

root

Antonyms

descendant

Related words

ancestorhood
ancestorial
ancestorism
ancestorship
ancestrula
grandancestor
protoancestor
last universal ancestor
last universal common ancestor
cenancestor
trancestor
grandcestor

Example sentences

“We rise with the courage of our ancestors.”
Tatoeba · Igider · CC0
“I'm named after my ancestor.”
Tatoeba · shekitten · CC0
“Domestic cats aren't too far removed from their wild ancestors.”
Tatoeba · Miktsoanit · CC0

Word history

From Old French "ancessor".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “ancestor” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.