ancestors
Those who preceded
Ancestors are the people from whom you descend—parents, grandparents, and earlier generations reaching back through time.
The word carries weight that "relatives" lacks, suggesting lineage and heritage: My ancestors came from Ireland during the famine.
In biology, ancestor extends to earlier forms from which organisms evolved.
Figuratively, anything that preceded and influenced a later development can be an ancestor: The telegraph was the ancestor of modern telecommunications.
Male ancestral leaders
- matriarchsFemale family rulers
- predecessorsThose coming before another
- antecedentsThings coming before
- ascendantsForebears in lineage
parentage · bloodline · dynasty · descent · line · sires · dames · clan
Underground nutrient absorbers
- homelandOne's native land
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
- motherlandOne's native country
- fatherlandOne's native country
migration · diaspora · old country · native land · village · territory · beginnings · foundation
Chart of ancestors
- pedigreeRecord of descent
- kinshipState of being related
- surnamesHereditary family identifiers
- genealogistStudies ancestry professionally
records · archives · census · DNA · haplogroup · genetics · birth records · marriage certificates
patriarchs
Male ancestral leaders
- matriarchsFemale family rulers
- predecessorsThose coming before another
- antecedentsThings coming before
ascendants · parentage · bloodline · dynasty · descent · line · sires · dames · clan · tribe
roots
Underground nutrient absorbers
- homelandOne's native land
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
- motherlandOne's native country
fatherland · migration · diaspora · old country · native land · village · territory · beginnings · foundation · provenance
family tree
Chart of ancestors
genealogist · records · archives · census · DNA · haplogroup · genetics · birth records · marriage certificates · death certificates
traditions
Long-established customs passed down
- heirloomsObjects passed through family lines
- legacyWhat's passed down
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
customs · artifacts · folklore · mythology · rites · ceremonies · language · dialects · recipes · music
shrines
Sacred devotional sites
- altarsSacred ceremonial tables
- offeringsThings presented or given
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
Día de los Muertos · memorial · remembrance · spirits · ghosts · afterlife · prayers · incense · tombs · mausoleums
- AfricaEgypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania
- family lifebirth, kinship, childbirth, pregnancy, new baby
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- cultural heritagefolklore, traditions, customs, folk music revival, museum collections
- kinshipmother, father, sister, brother, children
- Lunar New Yearred envelopes, lion dance, dragon dance, firecrackers, lanterns
ancestorsdescendants
Those who come after
descendents · offspring · progeny · posterity · future generations
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- ancestor worshipReligious honoring of forebears
- ancestor spiritsDeceased relatives believed present
- human ancestors
- wild ancestor
- female ancestors