English [ edit ] Alternative forms [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] Middle English ancestre auncestre ancessour Old French ancestre ancêtre Latin antecessor Old French ancessor antecessorem antecedo “ to go before ” ); ante “ before ” ) + cedo “ to go ” ). See cede antecessor
Pronunciation [ edit ]
( US ) IPA (key ) : /ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/ , /ˈæn.sɛs.toɹ/
ancestor (plural ancestors
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? ”, The Economist
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.
An earlier type; a progenitor
This fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse.
( law ) One from whom an estate has descended;—the correlative of heir.( figuratively ) One who had the same role or function in former times.
2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1-2 Newcastle ”, 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 [ edit ] Derived terms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ]
one from whom a person is descended
Arabic: سَلَف m salaf )
Armenian: նախնի naxni ), նախահայր naxahayr )
Belarusian: про́дак m pródak )
Bulgarian: прароди́тел (bg) m prarodítel ), праоте́ц (bg) m praotéc )
Catalan: avantpassat (ca) m
Chamicuro: ka'nil sheye
Chinese:
Mandarin: 祖先 (zh) (zǔxiān )
Cantonese: 祖先 jou2 sin1 )
Crimean Tatar: ecdat
Czech: předek (cs) m
Dutch: voorouder (nl) m
Esperanto: praulo
Estonian: esivanem
Ewe: tɔgbui m
Faroese: forfaðir m
Finnish: esi-isä (fi) , esivanhemmat pl
French: ancêtre (fr)
Georgian: წინაპარი c̣inaṗari )
German: Vorfahr (de) m Vorfahrin f Ahn (de) m Ahne (de) m Ahne (de) f Ahnin (de) f Urahn (de) m Urahne (de) m Urahne (de) f Stammvater (de) m Stammmutter f
Greek: πρόγονος (el) m prógonos ), προπάτορας (el) m propátoras )
Hungarian: ős (hu) , előd (hu) , felmenő (hu)
Ido: ancestro (io)
Indonesian: leluhur (id)
Irish: sinsear m sinsearach m
Italian: ascendente (it) , antenato (it) , avo (it) m abiatico (it) m
Japanese: 先祖 せんぞ, senzo ), 祖先 (ja) (ぞせん, sosen )
Maore Comorian: mudzaɗe class 1 /2 (mudzade )
Norman: anchêtre m , f
Korean: 조상 (ko) (josang ) (祖上 (ko) )
Kurdish:
Sorani: با وباپیر ba u bapír )
Latin: progenitor m progenitrix f avus (la) m ava f
Latvian: sencis m sence f
Macedonian: предок m predok )
Malay: nenek moyang leluhur
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forfader (no) m
Nynorsk: forfar m ( old ) forfader m
Novial: ansestre
Polish: przodek (pl) m
Portuguese: ancestral (pt) m , f
Romanian: strămoș (ro) m
Russian: пре́док (ru) (prédok ), прароди́тель (ru) m prarodítelʹ ), пра́щур (ru) m práščur ), праоте́ц (ru) m praotéc )
Scottish Gaelic: sinnsear m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: предак m праотац m претка f предкиња f прамајка f прародитељ m
Roman: predak (sh) m praotac (sh) m pretka (sh) f predkinja f pramajka (sh) f praroditelj (sh) m
Sinhalese: මුතුන් මිත්තෝ mutun mittō )
Slovak: predok m
Slovene: prédnik (sl) m anim prédnica f
Spanish: ancestro (es) m antepasado (es)
Swedish: förfader (sv) c
Tok Pisin: tambaran tumbuna
Turkish: ata (tr)
Ukrainian: пре́док (uk) m prédok )
Vietnamese: tổ tiên (vi) (祖先
Volapük: ( ♂♀ ) büröletan (vo) , ( ♂ ) hibüröletan (vo) , ( ♀ ) jibüröletan (vo)
Synonyms [ edit ] Antonyms [ edit ] Anagrams [ edit ] 
