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# ancestral

adjective (ancestral)

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

## Everyday

1. Ancestral means belonging to, coming from or connected with your ancestors, the people in your family who lived long before you. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#m1)
2. (science) Ancestral describes an early form of a living thing from which later kinds developed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#m2)

### In the lessons

In history and family lessons an ancestral home or land is where a family or people has lived for generations; Aboriginal Australians, Māori and Native American peoples talk about ancestral land. In science lessons on evolution, birds have ancestral links to dinosaurs. Phrases: ancestral home, ancestral land, ancestral language.

### Examples

- The castle was the duke's ancestral home. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x1)
- The Māori people care deeply for their ancestral land. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x2)
- Grandma took us to her ancestral village in Ireland. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x3)
- Many families keep ancestral photos and letters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x4)
- Birds are thought to have dinosaurs as ancestral relatives. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x5)
- The tribe performed an ancestral dance at the festival. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x6)
- Our ancestral language was Ukrainian, though we now speak English. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x7)
- He first sought refuge on Mount Ida, and afterwards fled to Italy, where he became the ancestral hero of the Roman people. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/ancestral/#x8)

### Note

Related: ancestor (a person), ancestry (your family line). Ancestors are earlier than grandparents usually; descendants are the people who come after you.

## On Mova

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