51Թ

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View synonyms for

ancestor

[an-ses-ter, -suh-ster]

noun

  1. a person from whom one is descended; forebear; progenitor.

  2. Biology.the actual or hypothetical form or stock from which an organism has developed or descended.

  3. an object, idea, style, or occurrence serving as a prototype, forerunner, or inspiration to a later one.

    The balloon is an ancestor of the modern dirigible.

  4. a person who serves as an influence or model for another; one from whom mental, artistic, spiritual, etc., descent is claimed.

    a philosophical ancestor.

  5. Law.a person from whom an heir derives an inheritance.



ancestor

/ ˈæԲɛə /

noun

  1. (often plural) a person from whom another is directly descended, esp someone more distant than a grandparent; forefather

  2. an early type of animal or plant from which a later, usually dissimilar, type has evolved

  3. a person or thing regarded as a forerunner of a later person or thing

    the ancestor of the modern camera

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • ˈԳٰ noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of ancestor1

1250–1300; Middle English ancestre < Old French (with t developed between s and r ) < Latin antecessor antecessor
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of ancestor1

C13: from Old French ancestre, from Late Latin Գٱŧǰ one who goes before, from Latin Գٱŧ; see antecede
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He said the tribe’s members feel delighted to be once again stewarding these lands and waterways, as their ancestors once did.

From

Researchers concluded that two 86 million-year-old skeletons they studied belonged to a species that is now the closest known ancestor of all tyrannosaurs - the group of predators that includes the iconic T.rex.

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And if all animals share a common ancestor, it could be something that is evolutionarily shared.

From

Booker argued that Democrats must remember the courage of their ancestors who fought for civil and voting rights and created the social safety net for the most vulnerable Americans as they try to fight Trumpism.

From

All this suggests that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees, bonobos and humans likely also produced compositional structures.

From

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-anceancestor worship