Library / English Dictionary

ANCESTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

Synonyms:

ancestor; antecedent; ascendant; ascendent; root

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("ancestor" is a kind of...):

relation; relative (a person related by blood or marriage)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ancestor"):

ancestress (a woman ancestor)

forbear; forebear (a person from whom you are descended)

father; forefather; sire (the founder of a family)

foremother (a woman ancestor)

primogenitor; progenitor (an ancestor in the direct line)

Antonym:

descendant (a person considered as descended from some ancestor)

Derivation:

ancestral (inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent)

ancestral (of or belonging to or inherited from an ancestor)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The findings also indicate that the last common ancestor between sharks and other types of jawed vertebrates must have existed much earlier than previously thought — by more than 17 million years.

(Ancient sharks likely more diverse than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

The researchers were able to pinpoint some of these ancestors as Asian people groups who mixed with the Ancient North Siberians.

(DNA from 31,000-year-old milk teeth leads to discovery of new group of ancient Siberians, University of Cambridge)

One of two major ancestral groups of Jewish individuals, comprised of those whose ancestors lived in Eastern Europe (Germany, Poland, Russia).

(Ashkenazi Jew, NCI Dictionary)

A coded value specifying a group of animals presumably related by descent from common ancestors and visibly similar in most characters.

(Animal Breed Code, NCI Thesaurus)

The ancestors of Ashkenazi Jews lived in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Germany, Poland, Russia).

(Ashkenazi Jews, NCI Dictionary)

A relative who is the offspring of a sibling of either of the biological parents, and who share a common ancestor.

(Biological Cousin, NCI Thesaurus)

A female relative who is a sibling of the biological mother, and who both share a common ancestor.

(Biological Maternal Aunt, NCI Thesaurus)

A female relative who is a sibling of the biological father, and who both share a common ancestor.

(Biological Paternal Aunt, NCI Thesaurus)

Over time, global climates have cooled considerably, and the ancestors of modern turacos gradually shifted their range to more suitable areas.

(Past climate change pushed birds from the northern hemisphere to the tropics, University of Cambridge)

The three species last shared a common ancestor between 1.2 and 0.4 million years ago.

(Extinct Caribbean bird yields DNA after 2,500 years in watery grave, National Science Foundation)