How to Use ancestor in a Sentence

ancestor

noun
  • Her ancestors were great sea captains.
  • Latin is the ancestor of Italian and French.
  • The museum included an exhibit showing ancestors of the modern computer.
  • My ancestors came to America during the 1800s.
  • This is a nod to his ancestors.
    — New York Times, 13 Dec. 2025
  • Some of them were my ancestors.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
  • The ancestors restless in the back of my mind would not let me.
    — Tanya Talaga july 24, Literary Hub, 24 July 2025
  • The idea was to go back to the basic foods that their ancestors ate.
    — Chrystle Fiedler, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Our ancestors built the cities.
    — Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The stars are our ancestors, but the spiders are too.
    — Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Chappelle jokes that his show was bought and sold as much as his ancestor was.
    — Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 8 Nov. 2020
  • Some reflect on the strength of their ancestors.
    — Rachelle Graham, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
  • To be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 Mar. 2026
  • The spirit of the ancestors has to make a statement in our lives.
    — Lawrence Specker | [email protected], al, 9 July 2023
  • The ancestors demonstrate to the future the work that is yet to be done.
    — Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 2 May 2026
  • Five of her ancestors were forced to walk the Trail of Tears.
    — Keith Sharon, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Our ancient ancestors loved their birch tar.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 18 Mar. 2026
  • There was a long debate around this species about whether these ancestors could make and use stone tools.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Dogs, and their ancestors the wolves, use to bury food (resources) as a way to keep things safe.
    — Cathy M. Rosenthal, ExpressNews.com, 21 Feb. 2020
  • To thank the ancestors and begin in a place of openness.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 15 Dec. 2025
  • This is where our ancestors died protecting a way of life.
    — Richard B. Williams, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Epochs have passed since our last common ancestor roamed the Earth.
    — Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2024
  • Our ancestors had room for every tooth in their larger mouths.
    — Sara Kiley Watson, Popular Science, 4 Feb. 2026
  • The ocean’s gifts of mercy are the scent of food and the mucus trails of her ancestors.
    — Literary Hub, 23 Feb. 2026
  • The area has been farmed by his ancestors since 1810.
    — Vivian Jones, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Indeed, the shades of someone’s ancestor could be just a click away.
    — Samantha Baskind, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Our early ancestors must have craned their necks in awe when a lightning bolt lit up the night sky.
    — Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2023
  • This bias helped our ancestors survive by scanning for threats.
    — Mark Travers, CNBC, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Garde wanted to know what the narwhals’ ancestors were like.
    — Maggie Koerth, CNN Money, 25 Dec. 2025
  • Nobody is concerned about the way my ancestors felt.
    — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ancestor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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