ancestral
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Related to happiness felt in a secure relationship.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ansehstruhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ænˈsɛstɹəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of or belonging to or inherited from an ancestor
Of, pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by, an ancestor or ancestors
noun
An ancestor or forbear.
One who follows, honors, or is attracted to an ancestral tradition.
A forerunner; One who was involved in an earlier version of something.
biology
A genetic precursor.
The spirit of one's ancestor.
An elderly relative.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of or belonging to or inherited from an ancestor
Used this way, ancestral is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
That can be inherited.
Legally (or otherwise) inherited from one or more ancestors.
Capable of being inherited.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The descendants of one individual.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: of or belonging to or inherited from an ancestor
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.