as in grandmother
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Recent Examples of ancestress
The intersection of these two facts does convince me that William's genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long resident in India).
—
Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Instead of being a reticulated mesh the genealogy of mtDNA is a clean and inverted elegant tree leading back to a common ancestress.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2010
Meanwhile, Alice, Dana’s ancestress, never becomes much more than a moral quandary: a stubborn victim who is unable to adapt.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021
Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
—Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
—Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors.
—Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors.
—NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019
Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Instead of being a reticulated mesh the genealogy of mtDNA is a clean and inverted elegant tree leading back to a common ancestress.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2010
Meanwhile, Alice, Dana’s ancestress, never becomes much more than a moral quandary: a stubborn victim who is unable to adapt.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021
Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
—Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
—Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors.
—Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors.
—NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestress
Noun
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In March 2025, nearly two decades after the first movie, Seyfried shared some behind-the-scenes details about the movie’s wrap party, including a hilarious moment with her grandmother.—
Francesca Gariano,
People.com,
19 July 2025
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After Smith’s grandmother and mother died, he was busted with cocaine and did a prison stint in New Jersey.—
John J. Lennon,
Rolling Stone,
19 July 2025
Noun
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Meanwhile, Gloria Reuben will play Mae Silver, the Silver family matriarch, and Marcus Scribner will play Jonah, the family's youngest member.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
18 July 2025
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Her photo may have been prominently displayed, along with Aurora matriarch Marie Wilkinson’s, when the Quad County Urban League celebrated its 50th anniversary at Monday’s open house, but Theodia Gillespie was determined to keep the focus of this event on others.—
Denise Crosby,
Chicago Tribune,
16 July 2025
Noun
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Such cooperative behavior to defend from predators like raptors may have first evolved in our ancestors.—
Joshua Rapp Learn,
Smithsonian Magazine,
14 July 2025
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The fifth-generation Southerner said removing the monument would be a betrayal to the memory of his ancestors and other soldiers.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
13 July 2025
Noun
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However, none of these methods have, so far, reliably pinpointed the stem cells or progenitors capable of yielding fresh neurons–leaving room for doubt.—
Lauren Leffer,
Popular Science,
3 July 2025
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There is good reason for this since boysenberry’s progenitors include European blackberry, European raspberry, loganberry (a blackberry-raspberry hybrid), and dewberry, a kind of blackberry native to the central and southern United States.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
3 July 2025
Noun
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Through our hair and its many rituals, remain the herbalism of our foremothers in the new world, passing down their ingenuity of homemade balms, creams, and oils for hair growth.—
Eshe Ukweli,
refinery29.com,
7 June 2023
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In fact, precursors to modern bleaching processes didn’t come on the scene until the turn of the 20th century, leaving our foremothers and forefathers plenty of time to get creative with their blonde pursuits.—
AJ Willingham,
CNN,
28 May 2023
Noun
-
For the renovation, the museum invited their descendants to consult on a reinstallation in line with their beliefs, and interviewed them for an in-gallery film about their forebears.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
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But the film makes too little a point of one giant forebear.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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