Webster's English Dictionary

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ancestor

an.ces.tor \'an-.ses-t*r\ \-tr*s\ n [ME ancestre, fr. OF, fr L antecessor 
   one that goes before, fr. ]antecessus, pp. of antecedere to go before, fr. 
   ante- + cedere to go - more at CEDE 1a: one from whom a person is descended 
   and who is usu. more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent 1b: 
   FOREFATHER  2: FORERUNNER, PROTOTYPE  3: a progenitor of a more recent or 
   existing species or group  - an.ces.tress n