Adjacent Words

Ancestor definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AN'CESTOR, n. [L. antecessor, of ante, before, and cedo, to go.]
One from whom a person descends, either by the father or mother, at any distance of time, in the tenth or hundredth generation. An ancestor precedes in the order of nature or blood; a predecessor, in the order of office.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent) [syn: ancestor, ascendant, ascendent, antecedent, root] [ant: descendant, descendent]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English ancestre, from Anglo-French, from Latin antecessor predecessor, from antecedere to go before, from ante- + cedere to go Date: 13th century 1. a. one from whom a person is descended and who is usually more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent b. forefather 2 2. forerunner, prototype 3. a progenitor of a more recent or existing species or group

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (fem. ancestress) 1 any (esp. remote) person from whom one is descended. 2 an early type of animal or plant from which others have evolved. 3 an early prototype or forerunner (ancestor of the computer). Etymology: ME f. OF ancestre f. L antecessor -oris f. antecedere (as ANTE-, cedere cess- go)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ancestor An"ces*tor, n. [OE. ancestre, auncestre, also ancessour; the first forms fr. OF. ancestre, F. anc[^e]tre, fr. the L. nom. antessor one who goes before; the last form fr. OF. ancessor, fr. L. acc. antecessorem, fr. antecedere to go before; ante before + cedere to go. See Cede, and cf. Antecessor.] 1. One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father. 2. (Biol.) An earlier type; a progenitor; as, this fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse. 3. (Law) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ancestors) 1. Your ancestors are the people from whom you are descended. ...our daily lives, so different from those of our ancestors... He could trace his ancestors back seven hundred years. ? descendant N-COUNT: usu pl, with poss 2. An ancestor of something modern is an earlier thing from which it developed. The direct ancestor of the modern cat was the Kaffir cat of ancient Egypt... ? descendant N-COUNT: usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Forefather, progenitor, father.

Moby Thesaurus

ancestress, announcer, antecedent, ascendant, avant-garde, begetter, bellwether, buccinator, bushwhacker, explorer, forebear, forefather, foregoer, forerunner, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, grandparent, groundbreaker, guide, harbinger, herald, innovator, lead runner, leader, messenger, parent, pathfinder, pioneer, point, precedent, precursor, predecessor, premise, primogenitor, procreator, progenitor, progenitress, progenitrix, prototype, scout, stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, vanguard, vaunt-courier, voortrekker