ancestor🔊

One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather.

An earlier type; a progenitor

(law) One from whom an estate has descended;—the correlative of heir.

(figuratively) One who had the same role or function in former times.

(linguistics) A word or phrase which serves as the origin of a term in another language.

To be an ancestor of.