ancestor

noun an·ces·tor \ ˈan-ˌses-tər also -səs- \

Updated on: 24 Apr 2018

Definition of ancestor

1 a : one from whom a person is descended and who is usually more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent

Her ancestors came to America in the 1880s.

b : forefather 2

2 : forerunner, prototype

an exhibit of the ancestors of the modern computer

3 : a progenitor (see progenitor 1b) of a more recent or existing species or group

the ancestor of the modern horse

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Examples of ancestor in a Sentence

My ancestors came to America during the 1800s.
Her ancestors were great sea captains.
an ancient animal that was the ancestor of the modern horse
The museum included an exhibit showing ancestors of the modern computer.
several languages that are derived from a common ancestor
Latin is the ancestor of Italian and French.

Recent Examples of ancestor from the Web

Born Barbara Pierce in New York City in 1925, Bush counted 14th president Franklin Pierce among her ancestors.

— katey rich, Vanities, "Former First Lady Barbara Bush Has Died at 92," 17 Apr. 2018
But in the end, the luncheon-goers were enlightened about how their ancestors might have honored their dead through Victorian mourning customs.

— mary jane brewer, cleveland.com, "Weymouth Preservation Society in Medina explores Victorian mourning customs during fundraiser luncheon," 16 Apr. 2018
Take Haeckel’s pet theory, the biogenetic law, which stipulates that the development of each embryo in utero echoes the evolution of its remote ancestors.

— christoph irmscher, WSJ, "‘The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel’ Review: The Zoologist as Artist," 13 Apr. 2018
Rodríguez and his adviser, Andrés Moreno-Estrada, a population geneticist at LANGEBIO, turned to the historical record to figure out who these people's ancestors might be.

— lizzie wade, Science | AAAS, "Latin America’s lost histories revealed in modern DNA," 12 Apr. 2018
Growing up, Lewis would listen to the stories of his ancestors whose lives depended on the river water that gave a name to his Gila River Indian Community.

— dianna m. náñez, azcentral, "Tribal trailblazer Rodney Lewis, a force behind landmark water settlement, dies at 77," 12 Apr. 2018
From India to Scandinavia, our ancestors intuitively identified the power of crystals, observing how these magnificent minerals absorbed, reserved, and radiated energy.

— aliza kelly faragher, Allure, "A Beginner’s Guide to Magickal Healing Crystals and What They Do," 9 Apr. 2018
That is what our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived through 11,000 years ago.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "11,000 years ago, our ancestors survived abrupt climate change," 26 Mar. 2018
But Agostino wishes to remain where his ancestors lived, and Nina won’t leave their daughter’s grave.

— ben kenigsberg, New York Times, "Review: A Man Confronts a Mountain in ‘Monte’," 20 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ancestor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ancestor

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

ancestor Synonyms

Other Biology Terms

autochthonous, fecund, homunculus, phylogeny, substrate

ANCESTOR Defined for English Language Learners

ancestor

noun

Definition of ancestor for English Language Learners

: a person who was in someone's family in past times : one of the people from whom a person is descended
: an animal in the past from which a modern animal developed
: something in the past from which something else has developed