Main Entry:

an·ces·tor

Pronunciation:

\ˈan-ˌses-tər also -səs-\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English ancestre, from Anglo-French, from Latin antecessor predecessor, from antecedere to go before, from ante- + cedere to go

Date:

13th century

1 a: one from whom a person is descended and who is usually more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent b: forefather 22: forerunner, prototype3: a progenitor of a more recent or existing species or group