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Antique vs Ancient - What's the difference?

antique | ancient | Related terms |

Ancient is a synonym of antique.

Ancient is a related term of antique.



As adjectives the difference between antique and ancient

is that antique is old, used especially of furniture and household items; out of date while ancient is having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.

As nouns the difference between antique and ancient

is that antique is an old piece of furniture, household item, or other similar item while ancient is a person who is very old.

As a verb antique

is to shop for antiques; to search for antiques.

antique

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Old, used especially of furniture and household items; out of date.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“There the cause of death was soon ascertained?; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”}}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An old piece of furniture, household item, or other similar item.
  • An old person.
  • Verb

    (antiqu)
  • (label) To shop for antiques; to search for antiques.
  • (label) To make an object appear to be an antique in some way.
  • ancient

    Alternative forms

    * anchient, antient, aunchient, auncient, auntient, awncient, awntient (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’}}
  • Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black), title=Internal Combustion
  • , chapter=2 citation , passage=Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
  • (label) Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.
  • (obsolete) Experienced; versed.
  • * Berners
  • Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm.
  • (obsolete) Former; sometime.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • They mourned their ancient leader lost.

    Antonyms

    * modern

    Derived terms

    * Ancient Egypt * Ancient Greece * ancient lights * Ancient Macedonian * ancient pyramid * Ancient Rome * ancientry

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who is very old.
  • A person who lived in ancient times.
  • (heraldry, archaic) A flag, banner, standard or ensign.
  • * 1719 ,
  • I got all things ready as he had directed, and waited the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out, and everything to accommodate his guests..
  • (UK, legal) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.
  • (obsolete) A senior; an elder; a predecessor.
  • * Hooker
  • Junius and Andronicus were his ancients .

    References

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    Statistics

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    Anagrams

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