1
as in grandfather
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
Bridie's Irish ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 19th century during the Great Potato Famine
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in forerunner
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
pinball machines—the ancestors of today's video games—go back to the 19th century
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of ancestor
In the sequel, Moana receives a surprise call to action from her ancestors and wades into dangerous waters with a new crew and fresh songs from Grammy Award winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear.
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Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
Ghosts were feared, but unlike our modern times, they were also worshiped (the term for ghosts and gods were sometimes interchangeable), captured by humans to perform unpaid labor, and welcomed as ancestors.
—Tithi Bhattacharya / Made By History, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
Crocodilian ancestors known as thallatosuchians roamed the middle Jurassic and early Cretaceous eras (roughly 191-113 million years ago) and comprised two primary groups, teleosauridae and metriorhynchidae.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Oct. 2024
Experts believed that bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes each evolved independently from a more ancient ancestor.
—Quanta Magazine, 28 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ancestor 
Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
Ghosts were feared, but unlike our modern times, they were also worshiped (the term for ghosts and gods were sometimes interchangeable), captured by humans to perform unpaid labor, and welcomed as ancestors.
—Tithi Bhattacharya / Made By History, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
Crocodilian ancestors known as thallatosuchians roamed the middle Jurassic and early Cretaceous eras (roughly 191-113 million years ago) and comprised two primary groups, teleosauridae and metriorhynchidae.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Oct. 2024
Experts believed that bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes each evolved independently from a more ancient ancestor.
—Quanta Magazine, 28 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ancestor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestor
Noun
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My grandfather, a rabbi who died this year, made it out of Europe before the Holocaust.Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
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Harris regularly visited India as a child and spent time with her grandfather, P. V. Gopalan, a freedom fighter in India.Yash Roy, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Being a forerunner in your circle will put you in a good position and enable you to quickly field new possibilities, offering advantages.Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 2 Nov. 2024
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Lilly developed its forerunner more than 30 years prior, according to reporting from FiercePharma. Market pricing for prescription drugs creates the incentives that perpetuate this cycle of innovation.Sally Pipes, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
Noun
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One of the drivers in the original crash, her father and both police officers were standing in front of the cars involved when Geer crashed into the back of the Tacoma, police said in the affidavit.Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 14 Nov. 2024
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Their father — whose name has not been confirmed — tried to cling on to them but they were swept away by the tide of water, state news agency EFE reported.Reuters, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Meanwhile, vast quantities of a precursor chemical for amphetamines, benzyl methyl ketone, or BMK, were exported from various Western countries to the Middle East.Ed Caesar, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
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Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl come from China.CBS News, CBS News, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Beyond that, the M4 Pro Mac mini was (unsurprisingly) leaps and bounds beyond its M2 Pro predecessor in every test.PCMAG, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
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Like its predecessor, the game draws from elements of African folklore and spiritual beliefs.Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The company has developed several prototypes but requires further funding to continue development.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
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The company is now in the process of building three new prototypes, which will be subjected to both air and ground testing over the next 18 months.Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 4 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near ancestor
Cite this Entry
“Ancestor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestor. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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