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ancestor (n.)
"one from whom a person is descended," c. 1300, ancestre, antecessour, from Old French ancestre, ancessor "ancestor, forebear, forefather" (12c., Modern French ancêtre), from Late Latin antecessor "predecessor," literally "fore-goer," agent noun from past participle stem of Latin antecedere "to precede," from ante "before" (from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + cedere "to go" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). Current form from early 15c. Feminine form ancestress recorded from 1570s.
updated on June 10, 2017
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Definitions of ancestor from WordNet
Dictionary entries near ancestor
anatomical
anatomically
anatomize
anatomy
-ance
ancestor
ancestral
ancestry
anchor
anchorage
anchoress