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Webster 1913 Edition

Ancestor

An′ces-tor

,
Noun.
[OE.
ancestre
,
auncestre
, also
ancessour
; the first forms fr. OF.
ancestre
, F.
ancêtre
, 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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ancestor

AN'CESTOR

,
Noun.
[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.

Definition 2024

ancestor

ancestor

English

Alternative forms

Noun

ancestor ‎(plural ancestors, feminine ancestress)

  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 forefather.
    • 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.
  2. An earlier type; a progenitor
    This fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse.‎
  3. (law) One from whom an estate has descended;—the correlative of heir.
  4. (figuratively) One who had the same role or function in former times.
    • 2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1-2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
      The Magpies are unbeaten and enjoying their best run since 1994, although few would have thought the class of 2011 would come close to emulating their ancestors.

Usage notes

Derived terms

Translations

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Etymology

Middle English ancestre, auncestre, ancessour; the first forms from Old French ancestre (modern French ancêtre), from the Latin nominative antecessor one who goes before; the last form from Old French ancessor, from Latin accusative antecessorem, from antecedo ‎(“to go before”); ante ‎(“before”) + cedo ‎(“to go”). See cede, and compare with antecessor.

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/, /ˈæn.sɛs.toɹ/

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