ancestral

adjective ahn-ses-TRAHL Rare

Origin: From French ancestral, ultimately from Latin antecessor (forerunner).

Also means

ancient

Usage Note

Ancestral is an invariable adjective (same form for masculine and feminine) and refers to things inherited from remote ancestors — tierra ancestral, tradición ancestral. It is a learned, formal word and less common in casual speech than antiguo or tradicional. In biology it also describes an ancestral organism or trait.

Examples

"Respetan sus tradiciones ancestrales."

Natural Translation

They respect their ancestral traditions.

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