Entry Word: ancestor

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent <Bridieʼs Irish ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 19th century during the Great Potato Famine>

Synonyms father, forebear (also forbear), forefather, grandfather

Related Words grandmother, matriarch, patriarch; ancestry, antecedents

Near Antonyms children, issue, offspring, posterity, progeny, seed; heir, inheritor, son, successor

Antonyms descendant (or descendent)

2 something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed <pinball machines—the ancestors of todayʼs video games—go back to the 19th century>

Synonyms antecedent, foregoer, forerunner, precursor, predecessor

Related Words archetype, model, original, prototype; father, mother

Near Antonyms by-product, derivative, offshoot, outgrowth, spin-off; daughter, son

Antonyms descendant (or descendent)