Wiktionary

ancestry

English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle English auncestrie, from Old French ancesserie. See ancestor.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

ancestry (plural ancestries)

  1. The state of being ancestors
  2. birth to a noble or high-ranking family, or to someone of honorable descent.
    • August 1 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian volume 123
      Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: SSV Normandy:
      Tali: My people place a high value on family and ancestry. There's an unspoken expectation that I'll live up to my father's example.
  3. A series of ancestors; the people from whom one is descended
    Synonym: lineage
    I can trace my ancestry back to the 18th century.

Synonyms

edit

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

References

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ancestry&oldid=82595832"