noun
ancestor
AN-sehs-tuh
noun
1
A person from whom one is descended, further back than a grandparent; a forebear.
"Her ancestors emigrated from Poland in the 1890s."
"He traced his ancestors back to a small village in Wales."
2
An earlier version or form of something that later developed into its modern form.
"The typewriter is a mechanical ancestor of the modern keyboard."
"Latin is the ancestor of French, Spanish, and Italian."
How to Use Ancestor
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSomeone (or something) that came before you and that you descended from or developed out of.
Common mistake
The verb form "to ancestor" is very rare — in normal writing, stick to the noun and use "descend from" for the verb idea.
Common pairings
distant ancestor
common ancestor
ancestors and descendants
trace your ancestors
Word Forms
ancestored past tense, ancestors plural, ancestors singular
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Her _____ emigrated from Poland in the 1890s.
Etymology
From Old French ancestre, from Latin antecessor, "one who goes before" — from ante ("before") + cedere ("to go").