ancestral

[ an-ses-truh l ]
/ ænˈsɛs trəl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR ancestral ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to ancestors; descending or claimed from ancestors: an ancestral home.
serving as a forerunner, prototype, or inspiration.

Origin of ancestral

1425–75; late Middle English aunce(s)trel < Middle French, equivalent to ancestre ancestor + -el -al1

OTHER WORDS FROM ancestral

Words nearby ancestral

anc., ancaeus, ancaster, ancestor, ancestor worship, ancestral, ancestress, ancestry, anch'ing, anchises, ancho

Words related to ancestral

familial, tribal, affiliated, congenital, inborn, inbred, inherited, innate, maternal, old, past, paternal, consanguine, consanguineous, genealogical, lineal, totemic

Example sentences from the Web for ancestral

British Dictionary definitions for ancestral

ancestral
/ (ænˈsɛstrəl) /

adjective

of, inherited from, or derived from ancestors his ancestral home

noun

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 of ancestral

ancestrally, adverb