Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ancestor (-s), n. [OFr < L. ante, before + cēd-ěre, to go.] (webplay: nature, series).

1. Patriarch; parent; adult in a family.
2. Predecessor; forerunner; precursor; prototype; archetype; harbinger; herald; vanguard; foreshadowing; that which exists long before others.
3. Progenitor; forefather; previous generation.