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# ancestor

noun (an ancestor, ancestors)

«ancestor» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. An ancestor is a person in your family who lived long ago, before your grandparents, like a great-great-grandparent. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#m1)
2. An ancestor of an animal or plant is an older kind from which it developed: the wolf is an ancestor of the dog. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#m2)
3. An ancestor of a machine or idea is an earlier form of it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#m3)

### In the lessons

In history lessons pupils make family trees and learn where their ancestors came from (Ireland, Italy, China, Africa…). In science, ancestors explain evolution: birds have dinosaur ancestors. Many cultures honour ancestors, such as Māori whakapapa or Aboriginal Australian connections to Country. Phrases: «our ancestors», «a common ancestor», «ancestor of».

### Examples

- My ancestors came from Ireland on a ship. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x1)
- We made a family tree to find our ancestors. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x2)
- The wolf is the ancestor of the dog. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x3)
- Birds have dinosaur ancestors. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x4)
- Our ancestors hunted and gathered their food. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x5)
- Grandma has a photo of an ancestor from 1890. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x6)
- The horse's ancestor was as small as a fox. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x7)
- Many cultures tell stories about their ancestors. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x8)
- Consider what you owe to yourself, and to the blood of your ancestors." [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/#x9)

### Note

Countable: an ancestor. Opposite: descendant (people who come after you). Adjective: ancestral (an ancestral home). Myth: humans did not come from today's monkeys; humans and apes share a common ancestor.

## In Jewish tradition

In the Torah it means the forefathers of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with whom God made the covenant.

**Interpretation.** Tradition says God remembers the covenant with the patriarchs and so keeps faith with their children, a idea called the merit of the fathers.

### Examples

- But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD. (Torah LEV.26.45, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x1)

### Note

Countable: an ancestor. Opposite: descendant (people who come after you). Adjective: ancestral (an ancestral home). Myth: humans did not come from today's monkeys; humans and apes share a common ancestor.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «ancestor» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestor/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ancestor» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ancestor.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «ancestor» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ancestor» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/ancestor.html) on Mova free.