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# ancestor

«ancestor» in Mova's judaism dictionary: **a person in your family who lived long ago, before your…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an ancestor, ancestors)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An ancestor is a person in your family who lived long ago, before your grandparents, like a great-great-grandparent. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#m1)

2) An ancestor of an animal or plant is an older kind from which it developed: the wolf is an ancestor of the dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#m2)

3) An ancestor of a machine or idea is an earlier form of it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Torah it means the forefathers of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with whom God made the covenant. Interpretation: Tradition says God remembers the covenant with the patriarchs and so keeps faith with their children, a idea called the merit of the fathers. In the primary lessons: In history lessons pupils make family trees and learn where their ancestors came from (Ireland, Italy, China, Africa…). In science, ancestors explain evolution: birds have dinosaur ancestors. Many cultures honour ancestors, such as Māori whakapapa or Aboriginal Australian connections to Country. Phrases: «our ancestors», «a common ancestor», «ancestor of».

### examples

- But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD. (Torah LEV.26.45, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x1)
- My ancestors came from Ireland on a ship. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x2)
- We made a family tree to find our ancestors. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x3)
- The wolf is the ancestor of the dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x4)
- Birds have dinosaur ancestors. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x5)
- Our ancestors hunted and gathered their food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x6)
- Grandma has a photo of an ancestor from 1890. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x7)
- The horse's ancestor was as small as a fox. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x8)
- Many cultures tell stories about their ancestors. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x9)
- Consider what you owe to yourself, and to the blood of your ancestors." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/#x10)

### note

Countable: an ancestor. Opposite: descendant (people who come after you). Adjective: ancestral (an ancestral home). Myth: humans did not come from today's monkeys; humans and apes share a common ancestor.

### In the corpora

- [Bon Odori is a calm circle dance at Japan's summer Obon festival, which honours the spirits of ancestors.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/30-dances-of-the-world-and-dancing-at-parties/12/)
- [It is a myth that people came from chimps: chimps and humans are cousins who both changed from a common ancestor.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/17-how-close-are-apes-to-us/7/)
- [The ancestors of elephants, around 55 million years ago, were pig-sized animals with no trunk.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/21-elephants-the-trunk/19/)
- [Crocodile ancestors lived alongside dinosaurs over 200 million years ago, and crocodiles are the closest living relatives of birds.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/29-crocodiles-and-alligators/12/)
- [Snakes push their bodies against bumps on the ground to move, and pythons still have tiny leg bones left from ancestors with legs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/30-snakes-and-lizards/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «ancestor» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/A/ancestor/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.