How to Use ancestral in a Sentence

ancestral

adjective
  • Sloane’s ancestral roots trace back to Ghana.
    — Charlotte Observer, 28 Apr. 2026
  • But here, there’s pride in the ancestral recipe, made with dry white wine instead of red.
    — Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2021
  • One is that an ancestral gene ceded its function to a new gene.
    — Quanta Magazine, 16 Nov. 2020
  • Amelia’s ancestral roots in San Diego were deep ones.
    — Linda Dudik, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Dec. 2025
  • These songs share deep ancestral knowledge of the land, how to live with it and each other.
    — Kit Bernardi, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Was an ancestral human bathing in light at midnight?
    — Veronique Greenwood, Time, 9 Dec. 2025
  • Now, plans are being finalized to lay the king to rest in ancestral land.
    — Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Oct. 2022
  • For years, the tribe has worked to keep a connection to the ancestral land they were driven from.
    — Dianne Lugo, oregonlive, 1 Aug. 2021
  • For years, the tribe has worked to keep a connection to the ancestral land from which it was driven.
    — From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 2 Aug. 2021
  • Vivid dreams, ancestral downloads, and intuitive nudges are part of the path now.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Throughout the process, the tribe had full oversight of their ancestral heritage sites.
    — Celina Tebor, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2022
  • With the cliff dwellings of the ancestral Puebloans all around, there's a timeless feeling.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Moving from her childhood home to her ancestral one was quite a shift for teenage Diana.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 23 June 2026
  • But there is a small crack in the landscape that could bring shattering change to this historic ancestral home.
    — Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Jan. 2023
  • Many tribes across the country have sought to acquire their ancestral land and co-manage public land.
    — Janie Har, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 June 2022
  • Some of the brass-and-bronze sculptures were used in ancestral altars for past royal leaders.
    — Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Nov. 2020
  • This part of Wyoming is now part of the ancestral lands of the Eastern Shoshone.
    — Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The 300-member tribe has fought to get at least part of their ancestral lands back ever since.
    — Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 18 June 2024
  • As a Coast Salish person, these places are my ancestral home.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2022
  • Howling in dogs stems from ancestral roots, as canines are descendants of wolves.
    — Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Black Avengers but rooted in our ancestral stories.
    — Clayton Davis, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Each dish can be a kind of story that reflects the person who eats it—one that attaches a meal to the ancestral.
    — Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 29 Mar. 2022
  • During that conflict, their ancestral homes were nation-states.
    — Ibrahim Al-Marashi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2026
  • Creating an ancestral altar helps forge the bridge between the living world and the dead.
    — Lisa Stardust, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The region is also part of the ancestral lands of the native Ute Tribes.
    — Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 13 Oct. 2022
  • This is the second time in recent years the Wiyot tribe has acquired ancestral lands.
    — Freddy Brewster, Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2022
  • Instead of being drawn to cities, rural people were pushed into cities from their ancestral homes.
    — Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Each tribe has ancestral ties to Bears Ears that date back to time immemorial.
    — Nicole Chavez, CNN, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The food in her kitchen in North Homeland tasted like that of her ancestral homeland.
    — Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, 20 Feb. 2023
  • Instead, it's been argued that this moment marked the return of Jews to their ancestral land.
    — Nicole Froio, refinery29.com, 12 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ancestral.' 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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