Thesaurus
ancestor
ancestor
noun
Definition of ANCESTOR
1
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent <Bridie's Irish ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 19th century during the Great Potato Famine>
Synonyms father, forebear (also forbear), forebearer, forefather, grandfather, primogenitor, progenitor
Related Words antecessor, predecessor [archaic]; ancestress, foremother, grandmother, matriarch; grandsire [archaic], patriarch, sire [archaic]; ancestry, antecedents, roots
Near Antonyms children, family, issue, lineage, offspring, posterity, progeny, seed, stock; daughter, heir, inheritor, scion, son, successor
Antonyms descendant (also descendent)
2
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed <pinball machines—the ancestors of today's video games—go back to the 19th century>
Synonyms antecedent, archetype, daddy, foregoer, forerunner, granddaddy (also grandaddy), precursor, predecessor, prototype
Antonyms descendant (also descendent)
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