ancestry
gb/ˈænsɛstɹi/ us/ˈænsɛstɹi/
B2
English
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B2
relation
1
family or ethnic origins
Your ancestry is the family, ethnic, or national background of the people you come from.
Usage pattern:
[someone]'s ancestry; of [national/ethnic] ancestry
Common mistake:
Do not use ancestry for living family members in general; it usually refers to ancestors and origins.
Synonyms
lineage (emphasizes the line of descent through generations)
|
descent (often used with nationality or ethnicity, as in 'of Italian descent')
|
heritage (emphasizes cultural traditions as well as family origins)
|
roots (more informal and personal)
Antonyms
descendants (people who come after someone in a family line, not before)
Collocations
African ancestry
|Irish ancestry
|Asian ancestry
|mixed ancestry
|family ancestry
|maternal ancestry
|paternal ancestry
|trace your ancestry
|ancestry records
|ancestry research
Themes
family
|identity
|history
|culture
Examples
- She is American, but her ancestry is partly Korean and partly Mexican.
- The museum helped local families research their ancestry through old church records.
- He grew up knowing very little about his father's ancestry.
Learner examples
- My grandmother told me about our family's ancestry.
- She has Irish ancestry.
Noun
C1
relation
2
inherited genetic background
Genetic ancestry is what a person's DNA suggests about where their ancestors came from.
Usage pattern:
genetic ancestry; [someone]'s ancestry results
Common mistake:
Genetic ancestry is not the same as nationality, citizenship, or personal cultural identity.
Synonyms
genomic ancestry (more technical; refers specifically to ancestry inferred from the genome)
|
genetic background (broader; may include inherited traits, not only population origins)
Collocations
genetic ancestry
|DNA ancestry
|ancestry test
|ancestry results
|ancestry estimate
|ancestry report
|ancestry markers
|ancestry information
|population ancestry
Themes
genetics
|health
|identity
|science
Examples
- The study compared health outcomes while taking genetic ancestry into account.
- Her ancestry results showed connections to several regions of West Africa.
- Doctors sometimes consider genetic ancestry when studying risk factors, but it does not determine a person's identity.
Learner examples
- A DNA test can give information about your ancestry.
- His ancestry results surprised him.
Noun
technical
C1
relation
3
evolutionary line of descent
In biology, ancestry is the chain of earlier life forms from which a species developed.
Usage pattern:
the ancestry of [a species]; [species] ancestry
Common mistake:
Common ancestry does not mean that one modern species came from another modern species; it means they share earlier ancestors.
Synonyms
evolutionary lineage (more technical and precise for biology)
|
descent (emphasizes development from earlier forms)
Collocations
human ancestry
|evolutionary ancestry
|shared ancestry
|common ancestry
|primate ancestry
|ancient ancestry
|ancestry of mammals
Themes
biology
|evolution
|science
|nature
Examples
- Evidence from fossils and DNA helps scientists study human ancestry.
- Modern whales have an ancestry that includes land-dwelling mammals.
- Many animals show signs of shared ancestry in their body structures.
Learner examples
- Scientists study the ancestry of humans.
- DNA can show shared ancestry between species.
Noun
formal
C1
abstract
4
earlier origins of something
The ancestry of something can mean the earlier things it developed from.
Usage pattern:
the ancestry of [something]
Common mistake:
This use is fairly formal; in everyday speech, 'origin' or 'history' is often more natural.
Synonyms
origins (more common and general)
|
history (broader; includes later development too)
|
pedigree (can suggest a respected or traceable background)
Collocations
technological ancestry
|linguistic ancestry
|cultural ancestry
|intellectual ancestry
|ancestry of a word
|ancestry of an idea
Themes
history
|technology
|language
|culture
Examples
- The ancestry of the modern smartphone includes cameras, music players, and handheld computers.
- Linguists study the ancestry of words by comparing older forms in related languages.
- The political movement has an intellectual ancestry that reaches back to the nineteenth century.
Learner examples
- The word has a long ancestry.
- The computer's ancestry includes earlier calculating machines.
Grammar
Dictionary form
ancestry
IPA
GB/ˈænsɛstɹi/
US/ˈænsɛstɹi/
Syllables & stress
an - ces - try (3 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (an)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: ancestry
- Plural: ancestries, ancestry
Expressions
ancestry test
1/ˈænsɛstɹi tˈɛst/
fixed phrase
DNA origins test
An ancestry test is a DNA test that tries to show where your ancestors came from.
Examples
- He took an ancestry test after finding old family letters in the attic.
- The ancestry test suggested that her family had roots in several regions.
- Ancestry tests can be interesting, but the results may change as databases grow.
common ancestry
1/kˈɑmən ˈænsɛstɹi/
fixed phrase
shared line of descent
Common ancestry means that two or more people, groups, or species come from the same earlier ancestor.
Examples
- DNA evidence supports the common ancestry of humans and other primates.
- The two families discovered common ancestry through old marriage records.
- Similar bone structures can be evidence of common ancestry among species.
mixed ancestry
1/mˈɪkst ˈænsɛstɹi/
fixed phrase
multiple ethnic origins
A person of mixed ancestry has ancestors from different ethnic or national groups.
Examples
- She grew up in a family of mixed ancestry and spoke three languages at home.
- The report included a section on the experiences of people of mixed ancestry.
- He described himself as being of mixed European and Caribbean ancestry.
of [nationality/ethnicity] ancestry
1/əv nˈeɪʃənəlɪtˌaɪθnˈɪsɪti ˈænsɛstɹi/
fixed phrase
having particular origins
Use this phrase to say what national or ethnic background someone's ancestors had.
Examples
- Many residents of the city are of Italian ancestry.
- She is of Vietnamese ancestry but was born and raised in Canada.
- The survey asked whether participants were of Indigenous ancestry.
trace one's ancestry
1/tɹˈeɪs wˈʌnz ˈænsɛstɹi/
fixed phrase
research family origins
To trace your ancestry is to find out who your ancestors were and where they came from.
Examples
- She traced her ancestry back to a small village in Scotland.
- The family used census records to trace their ancestry over six generations.
- Many people now trace their ancestry using both documents and DNA tests.