ancestral
- 01 C1 Advanced
relating to your ancestors or the family members who lived before you.
pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by one's ancestors.
Simple“The family returned to their ancestral home in the countryside for the summer.”
In context“The disputed territory was considered their ancestral land, held by the tribe for centuries before the colonial administration arrived.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
describing an early form of a plant, animal, or gene from which others developed.
denoting a precursor or an earlier evolutionary type from which current species or traits are derived.
Simple“Scientists studied the ancestral DNA to understand how the species changed over time.”
In context“The researchers identified an ancestral gene that remains present in both modern birds and their reptilian predecessors.”
“The Sussexes also visited Althorp, the ancestral home of Princess Diana’s family, the Spencers, reports InStyle .”
“The study also provides an unusually detailed view of adaptive radiation, the process through which one ancestral species rapidly gives rise to many forms suited to different habitats.”
From Anglo-Norman ancestrel, from ancestre (“ancestor”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.