Ur-ancestor

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An original ancestor; proto-ancestor.

    "Often the ancestors were asked to intercede with the being who wielded the greatest power of all over the Shang people, the ur-ancestor known as the “Lord on High” (shangdi)."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of ur-ancestor. alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
proto-ancestor

Example

More examples

"Often the ancestors were asked to intercede with the being who wielded the greatest power of all over the Shang people, the ur-ancestor known as the “Lord on High” (shangdi)."

Etymology

From ur- + ancestor.

More for "ur-ancestor"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.