as in grandmother
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Recent Examples of ancestress
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
Instead of being a reticulated mesh the genealogy of mtDNA is a clean and inverted elegant tree leading back to a common ancestress.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2010
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
Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013
Instead of being a reticulated mesh the genealogy of mtDNA is a clean and inverted elegant tree leading back to a common ancestress.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2010
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestress
Noun
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For many Asian American women like Khalid, coming into these accessories from their mothers or grandmothers prompt questions about how to bring the past into the present.—
Sadiya Ansari Spandita Malik,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2025
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Who is Lori Berman? Berman, 66, is married, has two children and is soon to become a grandmother.—
Anthony Man,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Like all Guna, Lisa’s ancestors were not native island dwellers.—
Mark Johanson,
AFAR Media,
22 Apr. 2025
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Water bottle The modern-day source of water for many people—their water bottle—may be just as germ-filled as our ancient ancestors’ go-to watering hole.—
Matt Fuchs,
Time,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Given his grandfather’s negative views on homosexuality, Min has not yet discussed being gay with his grandmother.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
18 Apr. 2025
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Steve Polidori joined his grandfather at the family’s meat-processing facility while studying at Colorado State University in the early ’90s and stayed on after graduation.—
Miguel Otárola,
Denver Post,
15 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The dolls, which belong to a tribe called The Monsters, are the latest in a long line of iconic collectible characters from Asia, including Hello Kitty — now a 50-year-old matriarch — Sonny Angel and Gudetama.—
Alisha Haridasani Gupta,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2025
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It’s named for Cindy Pritzker, the late matriarch of the Pritzker family, and a portrait of her by Andy Warhol hangs in the restaurant.—
Everett Potter,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The company isolated expandable endothelial progenitor cells from the blood of red wolves to make their clones.—
Emily Mullin,
Wired News,
7 Apr. 2025
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In this timeless progenitor of low-budget horror cinema, a woman survives a devastating car accident and begins seeing paranormal visions of ghoulish men who pursue her to the ends of the earth and her sanity.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Assimilation would have made life easier for French-speaking Babs and her forebears, but fitting in wasn’t for them.—
Lisa Henricksson,
Air Mail,
29 Mar. 2025
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And then there’s that — art history, her forebears, with whom these paintings are communing.—
Adam Moss,
Vulture,
24 Feb. 2025
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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The statistics were grim—twenty-first-century males were, relative to their forefathers and their female contemporaries, much more likely to fall behind in school, drop out of college, languish in the workforce, or die by overdose or suicide.—
Andrew Marantz,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
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Trapping has evolved quite a bit since our forefathers first set out for beaver in the 1800s.—
Skye Goode,
Outdoor Life,
27 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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