ancestor

ancestor
\ \ [13] Ultimately, ancestor is the same word as antecedent [14]: both come from the Latin compound verb antecēdereprecede’, formed from the prefix ante- ‘before’ and the verb cēderego’ (source of English cede and a host of related words, such as proceed and access). Derived from this was the agent noun antecessorone who precedes’, which was borrowed into Old French at two distinct times: first as ancessour, and later as ancestre, which subsequently developed to ancêtre. Middle English had examples of all three of these forms.
\ \ The modern spelling, ancestor, developed in the 16th century.
\ \ Cf.ACCESS, ANTECEDENT, CEDE, PRECEDE, PROCEED

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • ancestor — an·ces·tor n 1 a: a person from whom an individual is descended: ascendant b: a person from whom an estate descends compare heir 2: one that precedes ancestor in title …   Law dictionary

  • ancestor — ancestor, progenitor, forefather, forebear mean a person from whom one is descended. Ancestor, especially in genealogical and in historical use, implies lineal descent through one’s father or mother {he had three ancestors who were judges} but it …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Ancestor — An ces*tor, n. [OE. ancestre, auncestre, also ancessour; the first forms fr. OF. ancestre, F. anc[^e]tre, fr. the L. nom. antessor one who goes before; the last form fr. OF. ancessor, fr. L. acc. antecessorem, fr. antecedere to go before; ante… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ancestor — [an′ses΄tər; ] also [, an′səstər, an′sistər] n. [ME & OFr ancestre < L antecessor, one who goes before < pp. of antecedere < ante , before + cedere, to go] 1. any person from whom one is descended, esp. one earlier in a family line than… …   English World dictionary

  • ancestor — ancestor. См. предок. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • ancestor — (n.) c.1300, ancestre, antecessour, from O.Fr. ancestre (12c., Mod.Fr. ancêtre), from L.L. antecessor predecessor, lit. foregoer, agent noun from pp. stem of L. antecedere to precede, from ante before (see ANTE (Cf. ante)) + ce …   Etymology dictionary

  • ancestor — [n] predecessor in family antecedent, antecessor, ascendant, forebear, forefather, foregoer, foremother, forerunner, founder, precursor, primogenitor, progenitor; concept 414 Ant. descendant …   New thesaurus

  • ancestor — ► NOUN 1) a person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended. 2) something from which a later species or version has evolved. DERIVATIVES ancestral adjective ancestrally adverb ancestress noun. ORIGIN Latin… …   English terms dictionary

  • Ancestor — An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i.e., a grandparent, great grandparent, great great grandparent, great great great grandparent, great great great great grandparent, and so forth).Two individuals have a genetic… …   Wikipedia

  • ancestor — 01. My [ancestors] came to this country from Asia thousands of years ago. 02. The sabre tooth tiger is an early [ancestor] of the domestic cat. 03. In my culture, we pray to our [ancestors] every day. 04. The native people have asked the museum… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • ancestor — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ direct ▪ The builder of the house was a direct ancestor of the present owner. ▪ immediate ▪ ancient, distant, early, remote …   Collocations dictionary

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