as in grandmother
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Recent Examples of ancestress
Meanwhile, Alice, Dana’s ancestress, never becomes much more than a moral quandary: a stubborn victim who is unable to adapt.
—
Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021
Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
—Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
—Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors.
—Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors.
—NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019
The intersection of these two facts does convince me that William's genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long resident in India).
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021
Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
—Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
—Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors.
—Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019
Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors.
—NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019
The intersection of these two facts does convince me that William's genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long resident in India).
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestress
Noun
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To me, the relationship to the grandmother’s story is that, there’s this hallucination, and then there’s a way of making the experience of distortion feel shared.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
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And a great-grandmother’s medicine tested positive for cocaine – spawning a 15-month legal nightmare, forcing her to refinance her home, and spurring a new state law that could set a precedent across the country.—
Holly Yan,
CNN Money,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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At the immersive new Elephant Valley, visitors come face to face with a herd of eight elephants led by their matriarch, Swazi.—
Catherine Garcia,
TheWeek,
2 Apr. 2026
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Named for the Astor matriarch who shaped New York society, these suites feature a welcome foyer, separate living room, king bedroom, walk-in wardrobe, and that same stunning marble bathroom.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Norman Wong, a descendant of Wong Kim Ark, poses for a portrait in front of a mural of his late ancestor, in San Francisco.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
1 Apr. 2026
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The Northern Cheyenne chief Little Wolf exemplified this resolve in the 1860s and ’70s, leading his people in many different battles to defend the North Country of his ancestors.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The progenitor of this family is thought to be the fragmentation of a large sungrazing comet described by the ancient Greek philosopherAristotle in 371 BC.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
31 Mar. 2026
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Müntzer’s teachings helped provoke the widespread uprising of the German peasants in 1525, and have served as a kind of progenitor inspiration for later communist thinkers, from Friedrich Engels to Ernst Bloch.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Through our hair and its many rituals, remain the herbalism of our foremothers in the new world, passing down their ingenuity of homemade balms, creams, and oils for hair growth.—
Eshe Ukweli,
refinery29.com,
7 June 2023
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In fact, precursors to modern bleaching processes didn’t come on the scene until the turn of the 20th century, leaving our foremothers and forefathers plenty of time to get creative with their blonde pursuits.—
AJ Willingham,
CNN,
28 May 2023
Noun
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Parks is known for paying homage to her forebears, and so Ambiguous Desire is also the result of extensive research into The Loft, Studio 54, and the history of raving.—
Aimee Cliff,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
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The 2027 coupe that paraded around Sebring—paired with forebears from C2, C4, C6, and C7 generations of the Corvette—is highlighted by the return of Admiral Blue Metallic paint to the family line.—
Lawrence Ulrich,
Robb Report,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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