ancestral

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adjective an·ces·tral \an-ˈses-trəl\

Definition of ancestral

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

ancestrally

play \-trə-lē\ adverb

See ancestral defined for kids

Recent Examples of ancestral from the Web

More than 3,000 women and girls were taken captive when ISIS attacked ancestral Yazidi villages around northwestern Iraq's Sinjar Mountain in August 2014.

— robert windrem, NBC News, "ISIS Leader Who Approved Sex Slaves Killed By U.S. Airstrike", 2 June 2017
Federal government plans to amend native title laws to give legal certainty to Adani’s agreement with local Aborigines to mine their ancestral lands.

— rod mcguirk, The Seattle Times, "Priorities of coral and coal clash in Aussie Sunshine State", 30 May 2017
The Palestinians have also yet to formally drop their demand for a right of descendants of refugees to return to ancestral places of residence in Israel.

— Washington Post, "6-day war begets 50 years of conflict for Israel", 29 May 2017
This winter marks the birth of a new industry: Companies will take a sample of your DNA, scan it, and tell you about your genetic future, as well as your ancestral past.

— thomas goetz, WIRED, "23AndMe Will Decode Your DNA for $1,000. Welcome to the Age of Genomics", 17 Nov. 2007

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.

15th Century