Descendent vs Ancestor - What's the difference?
descendent | ancestor |
descending; going down
descending from (an ancestor)
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= 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=
As an adjective descendent
is descending; going down.As a noun 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.descendent
English
Alternative forms
* descendantAdjective
(-)- The elevator resumed its descendent trajectory.
- Power in the kingdom is transferred in a descendent manner.
Usage notes
The adjective, "descending from a biological ancestor", may be spelt either with an a]]'' or with an ''e'' in the final syllable (see descendant). However the noun ''descendant'', "one who is the progeny of someone", may be spelt only with an ''[[-ant, a . ----ancestor
English
Alternative forms
* ancestour (obsolete) * auncestor (obsolete) * auncestour (obsolete)Noun
(en noun)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.}}
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 .}}