ancestor

Alternative forms

• ancestour (obsolete)
• auncestor (obsolete)
• auncestour (obsolete)

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/

Noun

ancestor (plural ancestors)

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.

Anagrams

• Canteros, Conatser, enactors, entosarc, sortance