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Ancient
Definitions
- 1 Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old.
"an ancient city"
- 2 Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
"an ancient author"
- 3 Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.
- 4 Experienced; versed. obsolete
"approved by the consent of the moste ancient doctors of the Churche [part of the book title]"
- 5 Former; sometime. obsolete
"They mourned their ancient leader lost."
- 1 very old wordnet
- 2 belonging to times long past especially of the historical period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire wordnet
- 1 A person who is very old.
"Hetty and Mrs. Piper watched them with a lynx-eyed understanding and before the ancient was well upon his road his way was blocked by Hetty."
- 2 A flag, banner, standard or ensign. archaic
"[D]iſcarded, vniuſt ſeruingmen, yonger ſonnes to yonger brothers, reuolted tapſters, and Oſtlers, tradefalne, the cankers of a calme world, and a long peace, ten times more diſhonourable ragged then an olde fazd ancient, […]"
- 3 a person who lived in ancient times wordnet
- 4 A person who lived in ancient times.
"What is ancient for us was in its own time a reworking of what was ancient for the ancients."
- 5 The bearer of a flag; ensign. obsolete, rare
"I preſt mee none but such toſtes and butter with hearts in their bellies no bigger then pianes heades, and they haue bought out their ſeruices, and now my whole charge conſiſts of Ancients, Corporals, Lieutenants, gentlemen of companies: ſlaues as ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth, where the gluttons dogs licked his ſores, and ſuch as indeed were neuer ſouldiours, […]"
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- 6 a very old person wordnet
- 7 One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery. UK
- 8 A senior; an elder; a predecessor. obsolete
"Junius and Andronicus […] in Christianity […] were his ancients."
Etymology
From Middle English auncyen, from Old French ancien, from Vulgar Latin *anteānus, composed of Latin ante (“before”) + -ānus (adjective-forming suffix). The non-etymological /t/ is by analogy with the common ending -ent.
From Middle English auncyen, from Old French ancien, from Vulgar Latin *anteānus, composed of Latin ante (“before”) + -ānus (adjective-forming suffix). The non-etymological /t/ is by analogy with the common ending -ent.
Corruption of ensign.
See also for "ancient"
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Unscramble this word: ancient