ancestrianadj.n.
/anˈsɛstrɪən/, U.S. /ænˈsɛstriən/ A. adj. Now rare.
Of, relating to, or inherited from an ancestor or ancestors; ancestral. In later use spec.: of, relating to, or characteristic of ancestrians (see sense B.).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [adjective]
fatherlyOE
fatherenOE
ancestral1579
ancestriala1641
ancestory1650
ancestrian1756
ancestorial1777
progenitorial1825
forefatherly1855
1756 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 82/2 We find this ancestrian enthusiasm breathing through all their noblesse.
1811 T. Adams Poet. Wks. 180 Regain my ancestrian lands!
1906 Edinb. Med. Jrnl. 19 336 The vital play of the complex ancestrian forces of heredity is finally fixed at the time of conception.
1961 Houston (Georgia) Home Jrnl. 21 Sept. It is the American way of life set by those ancestrian fathers so many years ago.
1971 Jrnl. Med. Genetics 8 9/1 These papers were generally unfavourably received by biologists, particularly by William Bateson who was to prove the most influential and outspoken critic of the biometric school and the ancestrian ideas.
2000 Jrnl. Hist. Biol. 33 318 William Bateson indicated that previous experiments in fact supported Mendelian inheritance in mice, and..he vehemently rejected Weldon's ancestrian views.
B. n. Biology. Now historical.
A member of a group of scientists advocating the explanation of heredity by mathematical calculation of the contributions of successive generations of ancestors (esp. in opposition to Mendelism; cf. Mendelian n.).The most prominent members of this group included Francis Galton (see Galton n.), Karl Pearson (see Pearson n.), and Raphael Weldon.
ΚΠ
1904 Times 20 Aug. 8/3 To the Mendelians it appeared that the hypotheses of the Ancestrians were disposed of.
1971 Jrnl. Med. Genetics 8 18/2 The ancestrian (particularly Pearson) used his formulae as mere empirical predictive models which described observed phenomena without necessarily postulating any physiological mechanism at all.
2004 M. Bulmer in M. Keynes et al. Cent. of Mendelism (2005) ii. 11 This exchange of views..illustrates the bitterness of the dispute between the ancestrians and the Mendelians.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1756