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Antecessor vs Ancestor - What's the difference?

antecessor | ancestor |

Ancestor is a descendant of antecessor.



As nouns the difference between antecessor and ancestor

is that antecessor is predecessor while ancestor is one from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather.

antecessor

English

Alternative forms

* antecessour (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) predecessor
  • * {{quote-book, year=1839, author=Samuel Taylor Coleridge, title=Coleridge's Literary Remains, Volume 4., chapter=, edition= citation
  • , passage=Yet who says, I have faith in the existence of George II., as his present Majesty's antecessor and grandfather? }}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1890, author=Grant Allen, title=The Great Taboo, chapter=, edition= citation
  • , passage=This, then, is their horrid counsel and device--that each one of their gods should kill his antecessor . }} ----

    ancestor

    English

    Alternative forms

    * ancestour (obsolete) * auncestor (obsolete) * auncestour (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.}}
  • An earlier type; a progenitor
  • (legal) One from whom an estate has descended;—the correlative of heir.
  • (figuratively) One who had the same role or function in former times.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Saj Chowdhury, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Wolverhampton 1-2 Newcastle , passage=The Magpies are unbeaten and enjoying their best run since 1994, although few would have thought the class of 2011 would come close to emulating their ancestors .}}

    Usage notes

    * There is a rare feminine form ancestress

    Derived terms

    * cenancestor

    Antonyms

    * descendant

    Anagrams

    *