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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Authorities stated that Acosta, the toddler's father and the toddler's grandmother were watching the boy while his mother was at work.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
2 June 2025
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In her telling, whenever her mother and grandmother were painting their houses, the then-adolescent Mahlangu would invite herself to do the same, but would be scolded.—
Percy Zvomuya,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
Noun
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Florentine society had changed a good deal since the days of their illustrious ancestor; noble blood had in fact become something of a liability.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
29 May 2025
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One of these two lineages is the ancestor of the present-day strains, while the other strain re-emerged over centuries in Europe and went extinct by the early 19th century.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
29 May 2025
Noun
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Her grandfather believed that was untenable, Monica Church said, and instead sought compromise with mining groups, ranchers and others.—
Sarah Cutler,
Idaho Statesman,
6 June 2025
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In From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, Ana de Armas’ Eve is seeking revenge after the death of her father, Javier (David Castañeda), who was killed in an assassination attempt by his father-in-law and her grandfather, The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) a dozen years before.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Noun
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Named after the family matriarch, Sigrid showcases the elegance and complexity achievable in Willamette Valley Chardonnay, with vibrant acidity, a layered, creamy texture, and remarkable age-worthiness.—
Paul Caputo,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
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Machado plays the tough matriarch while newcomers Tatianna Córdoba and Florencia Cuenca play her daughters.—
Raven Brunner,
People.com,
29 May 2025
Noun
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New York is usually considered the antithesis of sprawl and Los Angeles the progenitor of it.—
Conor Dougherty,
New York Times,
10 Apr. 2025
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Meanwhile, most Cretaceous avian progenitors appear more birdlike, with short tails ending in a compound bone called a pygostyle.—
Paul Smaglik,
Discover Magazine,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The relentless pursuit of shad: Each spring, one family and a group of volunteers haul the bony, oily fish from the Delaware River in a seasonal ritual that honors their forebears.—
James Barron,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
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Both join a long tradition of women storytellers in Latin America that includes forebears such as Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, Susana Baca and the great cantadoras of Colombia, voices such as Totó La Momposina, Petrona Martínez, ad Etelvina Maldonado, all keepers of the people’s memory.—
Fernando Gonzalez,
Miami Herald,
1 Apr. 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
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The triumphs of his forefathers, the great king Akbar and Shah Jahan, have been written out of history textbooks, Rezavi said, or not taught in schools.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
18 Apr. 2025
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Boland is one of them, as well as a forefather of the Red Dirt genre.—
Josh Crutchmer,
Rolling Stone,
22 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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