ancient

ancient
\ \ [14] Like antique, ancient was originally, in Latin, an adjectivized version of the adverb and preposition ‘before’: to antebefore’ was added the adjective suffix -ānus, to produce the adjective *anteānusgoing before’.
\ \ In Old French this became ancien, and it passed into English via Anglo-Norman auncien. The final -t began to appear in the 15th century, by the same phonetic process as produced it in pageant and tyrant.
\ \ The now archaic use of ancient as ‘standard, flag’ and as ‘standard-bearer’ (as most famously in Shakespeare’s ‘ancient Pistol’) arose from an alteration of ensign.
\ \ Cf.ANTIQUE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Ancient — An cient, a. [OE. auncien, F. ancien, LL. antianus, fr. L. ante before. See {Ante }, pref.] 1. Old; that happened or existed in former times, usually at a great distance of time; belonging to times long past; specifically applied to the times… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ancient — Жанр Мелодичный блэк метал Годы с 1992 Страна …   Википедия

  • Ancient — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Banda de Black metal melódico formado en Noruega en 1992. Ha lanzado seis álbumes integrales y firma, actualmente, con Metal Blade Records. Ancient emplea el sonido del Raw black metal, similar a los trabajos de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Ancient — Pays d’origine  Norvege !Norvège Genre musical Black metal Années d activité 1992 Aujourd hui …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ancient — an·cient adj: existing from a long past date; specif: having had an uninterrupted existence of 20 to 30 or more years ◇ Things and esp. documents that are ancient benefit from a presumption that they are valid even though proof of their validity… …   Law dictionary

  • ancient — ancient1 [ān′chənt, ān′shənt] adj. [ME auncien < OFr ancien < VL * anteanus < L ante, before: t by infl. of ENT] 1. of times long past; belonging to the early history of the world, esp. before the end of the Western Roman Empire (A.D.… …   English World dictionary

  • Ancient — An cient, n. [Corrupted from ensign.] 1. An ensign or flag. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] More dishonorable ragged than an old faced ancient. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. The bearer of a flag; an ensign. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] This is Othello s ancient, as I… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ancient — ► ADJECTIVE 1) belonging to or originating in the very distant past. 2) chiefly humorous very old. ► NOUN 1) archaic or humorous an old man. 2) (the ancients) the people of ancient times. DERIVATIVES …   English terms dictionary

  • Ancient — An cient, n. 1. pl. Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the {moderns}. [1913 Webster] 2. An aged man; a patriarch. Hence: A governor; a ruler; a person of influence. [1913 Webster] The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ancient — Allgemeine Informationen Genre(s) Black Metal Gründung 1992 Website http://www.ancientband.net/ …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ancient — *old, venerable, antediluvian, antique, antiquated, archaic, obsolete Analogous words: primeval, pristine, primal, primordial (see PRIMARY) Antonyms: modern Contrasted words: *new, new fashioned, new fangled, fresh, novel, modernistic: current,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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