ancestral

[ an-ses-truhl ]

adjective

1. pertaining to ancestors; descending or claimed from ancestors:

   an ancestral home.

2. serving as a forerunner, prototype, or inspiration.

ancestral

/ ænˈsɛstrəl /

adjective

1. of, inherited from, or derived from ancestors

   his ancestral home

noun

1. logic a relation that holds between x and y if there is a chain of instances of a given relation leading from x to y. Thus the ancestral of parent of is ancestor of, since x is the ancestor of y if and only if x is a parent of…a parent of…a parent of y

Derived Forms

• anˈcestrally, adverb

Other Words From

• an·cestral·ly adverb
• nonan·cestral adjective
• nonan·cestral·ly adverb
• pseudo·an·cestral adjective
• pseudo·an·cestral·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancestral¹

1425–75; late Middle English aunce ( s ) trel < Middle French, equivalent to ancestre ancestor + -el -al ¹

Example Sentences

The BBC reported in October that an auction house in Oxfordshire had been forced to withdraw human and ancestral remains from a sale following criticism from native groups and museums.

From BBC

And the Pit River Nation is requesting designation for roughly 200,000 acres of their ancestral territory and spiritual sites in Sáttítla, or the Medicine Lake Highlands, which encompasses striking volcanic formations in Northern California.

From Los Angeles Times

“To see that people are still auctioning our ancestral human remains in the 21st Century was shocking,” she said.

From BBC

Another focus is the history of Indigenous people, the Paiute and Shoshone, who decades before L.A.’s water grab saw their ancestral lands taken and occupied by white settlers.

From Los Angeles Times

Recent research found a geographical ancestral link in Orkney and Shetland by scientists in Edinburgh and Aberdeen universities.

From BBC

Related Words

• familial
• tribal