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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Charles was introduced to chicken keeping by his beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother.—
Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa,
FOXNews.com,
22 Mar. 2026
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Wilson spun around and the girl ran to her grandmother and hid behind her, as stated in the affidavit.—
Logan Smith,
CBS News,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Even outside of traditional television, the reality TV model has made millionaires of even more toxic matriarchs such as Ruby Framke, who amassed over 2 million YouTube subscribers by pimping out her children for clicks while criminally abusing them in secret.—
Tiana Lowe Doescher,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
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Shirley Aunty, the matriarch of the Aranya Pepper farm, is an egg curry queen.—
Shirley Parameswaran,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Local historians in Wyandotte County have long documented the arduous journeys that their ancestors, and those of many Kansas City, Kansas residents, made to find freedom from slavery.—
Sofi Zeman,
Kansas City Star,
15 Mar. 2026
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The last universal common ancestor of all life on Earth, known as LUCA, is embedded in every being’s genes.—
Emma Gometz,
Scientific American,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Supermassive black holes and galaxies grow up together when it was created via a merger between two progenitor galaxies.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
17 Mar. 2026
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Beane is the progenitor of the Moneyball movement, the search for inefficiency in roster building that, today, has influenced every Major League Baseball front office.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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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There is plenty about Norris to make fun of, but I’d be thrilled if today’s MAGA bros honored their forbears and were slightly less histrionic.—
John DeVore,
Rolling Stone,
20 Mar. 2026
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McNair spoke, unsuccessfully, before an Alabama Legislature that wanted to limit how schools teach events, such as the bombing that killed her sister, lest White children feel guilt for the sins of their forebears.—
John Archibald,
Southern Living,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.
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