ancestor

A person in your family who lived before you, such as a grandparent or great-grandparent.

• My ancestors lived in Italy.
• She found her ancestor’s name in an old record.
• Do you know where your ancestors came from?

How to use it: ancestor of someone (He was an ancestor of the current owner.)

Similar words: forebear, forefather

Opposites: descendant

Common phrases: distant ancestor, common ancestor, ancestor of someone

An earlier living thing or species from which a later species developed.

• These species share a common ancestor.
• Scientists studied the ancestor of modern whales.
• The fossils may belong to an early ancestor of birds.

How to use it: ancestor of something (This creature was an ancestor of modern horses.)

Opposites: descendant

Common phrases: common ancestor, extinct ancestor, ancestor of something

An earlier form of something from which a later form developed.

• This machine is an ancestor of the computer.
• The design has several earlier ancestors.
• That simple cart was the ancestor of today’s delivery van.

How to use it: ancestor of something (The device was an ancestor of the modern camera.)

Similar words: predecessor, forerunner

Common phrases: early ancestor, direct ancestor, ancestor of something