ancestornoun [ C ]
uk/ˈæn.ses.tər/us/ˈæn.ses.tɚ/B2 a person related to you who lived a long time ago:
There were portraits of his ancestors on the walls of the room.
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descendant
a plant, animal, or object that is related to one existing at a later point in time:
This wooden instrument is the ancestor of the modern metal flute.
More examples
- Twelve thousand years ago, our ancestors were primitive savages living in caves.
- Apparently his ancestors came over from France in the 11th century.
- She claims that Mary Queen of Scots is one of her distant ancestors.
- These bones come from an animal that is the ancestor of the modern horse.
- Archaeology can tell us a lot about how our Iron-Age ancestors lived.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Family: ancestors & descendants
- ancestry
- be in the/sb's blood idiom
- blood
- blood is thicker than water idiom
- bloodline
- descend
- descent
- family tree
- forbear
- forebear
- forefathers
- genealogy
- generation
- heraldry
- lineage
- pedigree
- run
- run in the family idiom
- stock
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ancestral
adjective [ before noun ] uk/ænˈses.trəl/us/ænˈses.trəl/
an ancestral home
ancestral rights