1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

ancestress

noun

Definition of ancestressnext
as in grandmother

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ancestress 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 Instead of being a reticulated mesh the genealogy of mtDNA is a clean and inverted elegant tree leading back to a common ancestress. — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2010
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestress
  1. grandmother
  2. matriarch
  3. ancestor
  4. progenitor
  5. foremother
  6. forebear
Noun
  • The child was raised primarily by her grandmother Mary Croom Jones.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
  • She’s based on the filmmaker’s grandmother, who left the family in the 1980s to join an all-women cult, lured by the seductive leader, well-played in the film by Lily James.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of grandmother
Noun
  • Donna is the matriarch of a wealthy Miami-area Adelson family.
    — Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Florence Pugh leads the cast of the series as Cathy Ames, the matriarch of the Trask family and a Devil figure in the novel who serves as its principal antagonist.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of matriarch
Noun
  • The group includes people whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The Maori tell a story about how a godwit showed their ancestors the way from their ancient homeland of Hawaiki to New Zealand, more than a thousand miles away.
    — Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Noun
  • Art Bar, Riverwest This list wouldn't be complete without the progenitor of the genre in Milwaukee.
    — Anya Sesay, jsonline.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • So perhaps a certain signaling molecule preferentially accumulates more on one side of a neural progenitor cell than the other.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 13 July 2026
Definition of progenitor
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
  • 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
Definition of foremother
Noun
  • Plant paid special attention to forebears and contemporaries.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Harking back to its Jurassic forbear, The End of Oak Street channels everyone's favorite '80s Amblin classics, but with a far more vicious bite.
    — Megan McCluskey, Time, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of forebear

Browse Nearby Words

ancestral
ancestress
ancestresses
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of volition

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All