ancestral

an·ces·tral | \ an-ˈse-strəl

How to pronounce ancestral (audio)

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Definition of ancestral

: of, relating to, or inherited from an ancestor ancestral estates

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Examples of ancestral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In the 1830s, between 12,500 and 15,000 Choctaw forcibly relocated from their ancestral home in Mississippi to Oklahoma, walking thousands of miles on the Trail of Tears. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN, "The Irish are sending relief to Native Americans, inspired by a donation from a tribe during the Great Famine," 6 May 2020 Don't miss Xanthi's Greek loukaniko Xanthi, the restaurant’s namesake, is the Angous’ ancestral home — a city of little more than 50,000 in Eastern Greece, nestled between Bulgaria and the northern shores of the Aegean Sea. — Dominic Armato, azcentral, "Meet Xanthi Greek Food, a new destination for traditional Greek sausages in metro Phoenix," 6 May 2020 At the time, the Choctaw people were among the 60,000 Native American that had been recently dislocated from their ancestral homes. — Mélissa Godin, Time, "Irish Send Money to Native American Community Hit By COVID-19, Returning Historic Favor," 5 May 2020 In its time, flowering plants evolved, and came to populate the shores of its ancestral home, the Yangtze River, in modern-day China. — National Geographic, "The Chinese paddlefish, one of world's largest fish, has gone extinct," 8 Jan. 2020 Local wineries are increasingly experimenting with ancestral-method sparklings, ditching the traditional-method fuss. — Coral Sisk, SFChronicle.com, "Cloudy, funky sparkling wines are all the rage. But will you enjoy them?," 27 Nov. 2019 Drawing on historical and cultural legacies from their ancestral home, first-, second-, and third-generation Indian Americans have played significant roles in shaping Minnesota’s community and culture. — Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, "Literary calendar: Hillary and Chelsea Clinton present ‘The Book of Gutsy Women’ this week in Minneapolis," 19 Oct. 2019 Young Chicano parents were naming their children Xóchitl, Tizoc, Itztli, and other Náhuatl names—Náhuatl is the common language of several Mexican ancestral and present-day societies. — Eduardo Díaz, Smithsonian Magazine, "Fifty Years Ago, Fed Up With the City’s Neglect, a San Diego Community Rose Up to Create Chicano Park," 28 Apr. 2020 Sana Sana focuses on ancestral foods and plant medicines. — Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, azcentral, "The food-lover's guide to finding meat, eggs, produce and more in metro Phoenix," 1 Apr. 2020

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

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Dictionary Entries near ancestral

ancestor worship

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Last Updated

22 May 2020

Cite this Entry

“Ancestral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ancestral. Accessed 3 Jun. 2020.

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