ascendants
Those who preceded
Ascendants are ancestors—those from whom one descends, particularly parents, grandparents, and earlier generations.
The term appears most often in legal and genealogical contexts: Property passes to ascendants if there are no descendants.
In astrology, ascendant refers to the zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at birth, though the plural form is rare in that sense.
Original ancestors of a lineage
- forebearsAncestral family members
- forefathersAncestral predecessors
- foremothersFemale ancestors collectively
- patriarchsMale ancestral leaders
matriarchs · elders · antecedents · predecessors · sires · dams · begetters · procreators
Study of family descent
- pedigreeRecord of descent
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
dynasty · kinship · house · clan · tribe · kindred · succession · inheritance
Objects passed through family lines
- traditionsLong-established customs passed down
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- patrimonyInherited estate or legacy
endowment · bequest · heritage · culture · rites · folklore · oral-history · veneration
progenitors
Original ancestors of a lineage
- forebearsAncestral family members
- forefathersAncestral predecessors
- foremothersFemale ancestors collectively
patriarchs · matriarchs · elders · antecedents · predecessors · sires · dams · begetters · procreators · grandfathers
genealogy
Study of family descent
bloodline · dynasty · kinship · house · clan · tribe · kindred · succession · inheritance · birthright
heirlooms
Objects passed through family lines
- traditionsLong-established customs passed down
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
patrimony · endowment · bequest · heritage · culture · rites · folklore · oral-history · veneration · offerings
- ancestorsancestor, ancestors, forebears, forebear, forbear
- inheritanceinheritance, inheritances, heir, heirs, heiress
- synastrycompatibility, aspects, conjunctions, conjunction, oppositions
ascendantssubordinates
Those ranked below
inferiors · underlings · subjects · followers · dependents