Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AN'CES-TOR, n. [Fr. ancestres, ancêtres; L. antecessor, of ante, before, and cedo, to go.]

One from whom a person descends, either by the father or mother, at any distance of time, in the tenth or hundredth generation. An ancestor precedes in the order of nature or blood; a predecessor, in the order of office.