Ancestor

['ænsestə] or ['ænsɛstɚ]

Definition

(noun.) someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent).

Checked by Debbie--From WordNet

Definition

(n.) One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father.

(n.) An earlier type; a progenitor; as, this fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse.

(n.) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir.

Typist: Willie

Synonyms and Synonymous

n. Forefather, progenitor, father.

Edited by Jacqueline

Definition

n. one from whom a person has descended: a forefather:—fem. An′cestress.—adj. Ances′tral.—ns. An′cestor-wor′ship the chief element in the religion of China and other countries—erroneously supposed by Herbert Spencer to be the foundation of all religion; An′cestry a line of ancestors: lineage.

Typed by Geoffrey

Unserious Contents or Definition

The originators of the Family Tree, a remarkable sex paradox in which the Ann sisters are always the four fathers.

Typed by Adele

Examples

By the shell of my first ancestor! Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
In the name of my first ancestor, then, she continued, where may you be from? Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
In the same order or family to-day, the brain is usually from six to ten times what it was in the Eocene ancestor. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Only our first ancestor knows, he replied. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
Before the ancestor of the sea scorpion could survive being left by the tide it had to develop its casing and armour. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
She was indeed, as her fellow Martian had said of her, an atavism; a dear and precious reversion to a former type of loved and loving ancestor. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
By the metal of my first ancestor, he went on, but the description fits him to perfection, especially as to his fighting ability. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
And then Tarzan of the Apes did just what his first ancestor would have done. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Your Elizabethan ancestor was not healthy-minded, said Caliphronas coolly; if he had been he would never have written such silly verses. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
By my first ancestor, but never was there so grotesque a figure in all the universe. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
Because, curiously enough, that song was written by a Carolean ancestor of mine, and I cannot think how Justinian came to know it. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
Blessed be the shell of thy first ancestor, most noble Dator, replied the man. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
Others, alive to this objection, say that man is descended from the common ancestor of the chimpanzee, the orang-utang, and the gorilla. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
As, however, we do not know the common ancestor of any natural group, we cannot distinguish between reversionary and analogous characters. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Almost certainly that ancestor was a smaller and slighter creature than its human descendants. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
We are not apt to imagine our posterity will excel us, or equal our ancestors. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
Mr Lightwood murmured 'Vigorous Saxon spirit--Mrs Boffin's ancestors--bowmen--Agincourt and Cressy. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
Possibly he did not even have a name, but in some way he hit upon a scheme for throwing stones farther, harder and straighter than any of his ancestors. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
The simple candle of our ancestors was now replaced by the oil lamp, which gave a brighter, steadier, and more permanent illumination. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
The shotgun and rifle, the familiar weapons of the sportsman and the foot-soldier, are not the ancestors of the cannon, as might be surmised. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
No one had ever before heard Adrian allude to the rights of his ancestors. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
Our not remote ancestors held the right of life and death over the surrounding vulgar. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
It is not certain whether the Neolithic pastoral people who left those remains were the direct ancestors of the later Egyptians. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Our ancestors were idle for want of a sufficient encouragement to industry. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
But all machines, however complicated in appearance, are in reality but modifications and combinations of one or more of four simple machines devised long ago by our remote ancestors. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
DEAR SON,--I have ever had a pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
Our ancestors have transmitted to us their physical forms, but not their brains, not their heroism. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
It seemed as if she was not an imposter any more, and was coming to the home of her ancestors. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
They fear the black pirates of Barsoom, O Prince, she said, from whom may our first ancestors preserve us. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
The myth is not one of the outgrown crudities of our pagan ancestors. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.

Checker: Paulette