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 2
2 : forerunner, prototype
3 : a progenitor of a more recent or existing species or group