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
-
The Pioneer Woman’s Vintage Lace Casserole Set has the perfect blend of country chic and coastal grandmother style.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
1 Mar. 2026
-
On the occasion of Grandmothers' Day in France on Sunday, Rennes got players from both teams to walk onto the pitch accompanied by 22 grandmothers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Forty Acres Fresh Market introduces an impressive, tiny but mighty, hot bar with Mabel’s Meals, honoring a family matriarch and casual culinary culture in Chicago.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
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Family matriarch Chanchaisri, now retired and a devoted volunteer at the Buddhist Temple of Dallas, looks back on her decades as a pioneer of Thai food in Dallas and Richardson.—
Sarah Blaskovich,
Dallas Morning News,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Regardless of meaning, the markings should put these Stone Age human ancestors in a different light.—
Jacopo Prisco,
CNN Money,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Private is the mystery incandescence of her nacre, coveting which the likes of us killed her ancestors to make buttons, souvenirs, entire garments for ritual dancers who sought to banish their demons with her magical inner light.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Advertisement With Revere their progenitor, mounted messengers would over the next hours course across Middlesex County and into Essex County and Norfolk County, into the counties of Bristol and Worcester.—
Kostya Kennedy,
Time,
16 Feb. 2026
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The key to calculating the amount of energy blasted out is realizing that the mass of a merger’s resulting black hole is not simply the sum of its progenitors.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Another camp speculates that these forebears met human nomads on the trail of big game and started traveling with them, eventually arriving in China via Mongolia through their supporting role as war dogs.—
Andrew Norman Wilson,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
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God willing, this legal reckoning will come before Republicans descend into barbarism on the scale of their ideological forebears.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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