Meaning & use
ancestor
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person in your family who lived long ago, usually further back than a grandparent.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural: 'my ancestors came from Ireland.'
Patterns
- ancestor of someone
- ancestors from a place
- distant ancestor
Her ancestors moved to Canada from Scotland in the 1800s.
We traced our ancestors back five generations.
He looks exactly like a portrait of his great-great-grandfather, one of his distant ancestors.
nouncountablefigurative
An early version of something that later developed into a more modern form.
Grammar: Used for objects, machines, or ideas, not people: 'the ancestor of the smartphone.'
Patterns
- ancestor of something
- the direct ancestor of something
The mechanical calculator was an ancestor of the modern computer.
This simple tool is the ancestor of today's power drill.
nouncountablebiologytechnical
An animal or plant species from which later species evolved.
Grammar: Used in biology; often followed by 'of': 'the ancestor of all birds.'
Patterns
- common ancestor
- ancestor of a species
Scientists believe dinosaurs are the ancestors of modern birds.
All dogs share a common ancestor with wolves.
Word forms
| plural | ancestors |
|---|
Common combinations
- common ancestor
- Humans and apes share a common ancestor.
- distant ancestor
- A distant ancestor of mine fought in the war.
- trace your ancestors
- She used a website to trace her ancestors.
- ancestors came from
- My ancestors came from a small village in Italy.
- direct ancestor
- This fish is a direct ancestor of land animals.
Synonyms and how they differ
- forebear
- More formal and literary than 'ancestor'; often used in historical writing.
- forefather
- Usually refers to male ancestors and sounds slightly old-fashioned or solemn.
- predecessor
- Used for earlier versions of things or people in a job, not for family members.
Opposites
Word family
- ancestry noun
- The family or ethnic background you come from.
- ancestral adjective
- Relating to ancestors, as in 'ancestral home.'
- ancestrally adverb
- In a way related to ancestors; rare.
Commonly confused: ancestor or descendant?
ancestor vs descendant
A descendant comes after you in your family line; an ancestor comes before you. Your grandparents are your ancestors; your grandchildren are your descendants.
Practice
My great-grandmother is one of my ___.
Choose one answer.
An ancestor is a person from whom you are descended, so a great-grandmother is an ancestor. 'Descendant' is the opposite direction. 'Relative' is too general here, and 'predecessor' refers to someone who had a job before you, not a family member.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ancestor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.