Ancestor
Ancestor ({not transcribed}) , noun
[Old English ancestre, auncestre, also ancessour; the first forms from Old French ancestre, French ancêtre, from the Latin nom. antessor one who goes before; the last form from Old French ancessor, from Latin acc. antecessorem, from antecedere to go before; ante before + cedere to go. See Cede, and compare Antecessor.]
1.
One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father.
2.
(Biology) An earlier type; a progenitor; as, this fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse.
3.
(Law) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir.