ancestry
- 01 C1 Advanced
coming from a family that has a high social rank or a famous history.
descent from a noble, high-ranking, or distinguished family. This sense emphasizes the status of the lineage rather than just the biological connection.
Simple“In the old days, a person's ancestry was more important than their skills.”
In context“The protagonist was a man of ancient ancestry, though his family had long since lost the wealth that once accompanied their title.”
“When the history of our ancestry is written, the fact that we’ve interbred with some of our closest relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, will have a central role.”
“Their hunter-gatherer ancestry swelled from only 10% to 30–40% in some regions.”
From Middle English auncestrie, from Old French ancesserie. See ancestor.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.