ancestry
Where you're from
Ancestry is the line of people from whom one descends—parents, grandparents, and earlier generations.
It encompasses both the individuals themselves and the broader heritage they represent: She traced her ancestry back to the 1600s, a person of Irish ancestry.
The word often implies connection to ethnic, cultural, or national origins.
Ancestry can also apply to things: the ancestry of an idea, a word's linguistic ancestry.
Chart of ancestors
- pedigreeRecord of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- forebearsAncestral family members
progenitors · kinship · clan · dynasty · genealogist · heredity · relatives · surnames
Long-established customs passed down
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- legacyWhat's passed down
- birthrightEntitlement from origin
- patrimonyInherited estate or legacy
heirlooms · customs · relics · artifacts · preservation · conservation · motherland · fatherland
Collective social practices
- raceCompetition of speed
- nationalityLegal belonging to country
- ethnicOf a cultural group
- indigenousOriginating in a region
aboriginal · tribal · diaspora · migration · assimilation · multiculturalism · diversity · minority
Hereditary code molecule
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
- chromosomesGene-bearing nuclear structures
- genesUnits of heredity
- genetic testingAnalysis for inherited disorders
haplogroup · mitochondrial · paternal line · maternal line · genetic markers · inherited traits · genome · biological
Great age, ancient era
- chroniclesSequential historical accounts
- civilizationAdvanced organized human society
- epochDistinct historical period
- eraDistinct historical period
mythology · narrative · past · prehistory · ancient · medieval · historical · oral history
family tree
Chart of ancestors
forebears · progenitors · kinship · clan · dynasty · genealogist · heredity · relatives · surnames · generations
traditions
Long-established customs passed down
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- legacyWhat's passed down
- birthrightEntitlement from origin
patrimony · heirlooms · customs · relics · artifacts · preservation · conservation · motherland · fatherland · homeland
culture
Collective social practices
- raceCompetition of speed
- nationalityLegal belonging to country
- ethnicOf a cultural group
indigenous · aboriginal · tribal · diaspora · migration · assimilation · multiculturalism · diversity · minority · demographics
DNA
Hereditary code molecule
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
- chromosomesGene-bearing nuclear structures
- genesUnits of heredity
genetic testing · haplogroup · mitochondrial · paternal line · maternal line · genetic markers · inherited traits · genome · biological · consanguinity
antiquity
Great age, ancient era
- chroniclesSequential historical accounts
- civilizationAdvanced organized human society
- epochDistinct historical period
era · mythology · narrative · past · prehistory · ancient · medieval · historical · oral history · folklore
- AfricaEgypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- cultural heritagefolklore, traditions, customs, folk music revival, museum collections
- identityidentity, personal identity, self, selfhood, self-expression
- royaltyking, queen, prince, princess, kings
- ancestrykinship, clan, bloodline, dynasty, descent
ancestryposterity
Future generations collectively
descendants · progeny · offspring · issue · future generations
- ancestry researchInvestigating familial origins
- Scottish ancestryDescent from Scotland
- ancestry recordsDocuments tracing family lineage
- Mexican ancestryDescent from Mexico
- ancestral homeFamily's original dwelling place
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
ancestor, ancestors, ancestral, ancestress, ancestries, ancestrally