as in grandmother
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Recent Examples of ancestress
Meanwhile, Alice, Dana’s ancestress, never becomes much more than a moral quandary: a stubborn victim who is unable to adapt.
—
Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021
Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
—Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
—Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors.
—Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors.
—NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019
The intersection of these two facts does convince me that William's genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long resident in India).
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021
Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
—Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
—Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors.
—Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors.
—NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019
The intersection of these two facts does convince me that William's genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long resident in India).
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestress
Noun
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Pulvirenti spoke with his grandmother, who is a tailor, as well as Vivo Hub colleagues at Bristol while developing the garment.—
Elizabeth Howell,
Space.com,
10 Nov. 2025
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In the 20th century, Black folks seeking refuge from the Jim Crow South moved to California en masse, among them Butler’s grandmother from Louisiana.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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When Days of Our Lives premiered in 1965, Reid headed up the Horton family as the matriarch, Alice Horton.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
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The movie’s star studded cast includes Colman Domingo as the family patriarch Joe Jackson and Nia Long as the matriarch, Katherine Jackson.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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His tío was a babalao (a Santería priest) who could conjure a spirit known as an orixá that could then take the form of its targets’ ancestors.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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At Rokeby, museum interpreters explain how the Robinson's ancestors had become wealthy in part due to the slave trade, but were abolitionists in later generations.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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They were dispatched to Earth to assassinate a rogue named Amel, a spirit who is actually the progenitor of the vampire race.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Nov. 2025
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Strong progenitor age-bias in supernova cosmology.—
Ian Randall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Through our hair and its many rituals, remain the herbalism of our foremothers in the new world, passing down their ingenuity of homemade balms, creams, and oils for hair growth.—
Eshe Ukweli,
refinery29.com,
7 June 2023
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In fact, precursors to modern bleaching processes didn’t come on the scene until the turn of the 20th century, leaving our foremothers and forefathers plenty of time to get creative with their blonde pursuits.—
AJ Willingham,
CNN,
28 May 2023
Noun
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Yet while most wound up being little more than footnotes in the books, Lamborghini managed to build a new mid-engined monster that would prove a successful successor to its forebears on children’s bedroom walls and in rich men’s driveways alike.—
Will Sabel Courtney,
Robb Report,
6 Nov. 2025
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Hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in the generative-AI industry, and the companies—like their social-media forebears—will seek returns.—
Damon Beres,
The Atlantic,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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