<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a person from whom one is descended; forebear; progenitor</li><li>Biology: the actual or hypothetical form or stock from which an organism has developed or descended</li><li>an object, idea, style, or occurrence serving as a prototype, forerunner, or inspiration to a later one: The balloon is an ancestor of the modern dirigible</li><li>a person who serves as an influence or model for another; one from whom mental, artistic, spiritual, etc., descent is claimed: a philosophical ancestor</li><li>Law: a person from whom an heir derives an inheritance</li></ul>