⬆️ Rising upward 👑 Most influential 👴 An ancestor 🏆 Dominant position

ascendent

9.3

An ancestor in your family from earlier times

noun
/əˈsɛndənt/

: antepasado

Many people research their family tree to discover unknown ascendents.

Examples

My great-grandfather was an ascendent in our family tree.
Some traditions honor the memory of ascendents with special ceremonies.
The estate was passed down from his ascendents over several generations.
Do you know who your earliest ascendent was?
Some traditions honor the memory of ascendents with special ceremonies.
Many people research their family tree to discover unknown ascendents.
Do you know who your earliest ascendent was?

Synonyms

ancestor

vsascendent

419 2.4

A person in your family who lived long ago before your grandparents

is the same meaning but functions as another variant or form

antecedent

vsascendent

2 7.4

A person in your family who lived before you, like a great-grandparent

is the same meaning but appears as an alternate word form

ascendant

vsascendent

1 8.9

A family member who lived before you, for example a grandparent

is the same meaning but exists as a different variant or form

progenitive

vsascendent

Archaic

9.9

A person in your family from an earlier time, for example a parent

is the neutral modern term rather than archaic or literary

Surface Forms

ascendent singular

ascendents plural

Morphology

ascendent = ascend (opaque) = ascend + ent

Although the form contains 'ascend' and '-ent', the meaning 'ancestor' is not recoverable from those parts for most learners.

Etymology

Ascendent as 'ancestor' is a helpful way to remember the idea: think of a family tree that goes up, because ascend means 'to climb up', so your ascendents are the people above you in the family line.