- of, inherited from, or derived from ancestors
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
an•ces•tral /ænˈsɛstrəl/USA pronunciation adj. [before a noun]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- of or inherited from ancestors:an ancestral home.
an•ces•tral
(an ses′trəl),USA pronunciation adj.
an•ces′tral•ly, adv.
- pertaining to ancestors;
descending or claimed from ancestors:an ancestral home. - serving as a forerunner, prototype, or inspiration.
- Middle French, equivalent. to ancestre ancestor + -el -al1
- late Middle English aunce(s)trel 1425–75
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
ancestral /ænˈsɛstrəl/ adj
'ancestral' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
descent
- Dreamtime
- line
- proto-
- prototype
- tribe
- adaptive radiation
- Anasazi
- ancestry
- autopolyploid
- Bon
- branchial groove
- cladogenesis
- cladogram
- clone
- crossopterygian
- degenerate
- dendrogram
- diphyletic
- dower house
- gens
- germ
- hereditary
- kachina
- labyrinthodont
- Manchuria
- monogenism
- neoteny
- palingenesis
- panda
- pedigree
- polygenesis
- polygenism
- polyphyletic
- preadaptation
- prochloron
- proconsul
- recapitulate
- recapitulation
- reversion
- therapsid
- throwback
- true
- wild turkey
- saltationism
- stegodon