Noun: ancestor an-ses-tu(r)
- Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
"She traced her family tree and discovered an ancestor who came to America in the 1700s";
- ascendant, ascendent, antecedent, root
- An earlier form from which a later form evolved
"The fossil represents an ancestor of modern birds"
Derived forms: ancestors
Type of: flesh and blood, relation, relative
Antonym: descendant
Encyclopedia: Ancestor