You use ancestral to refer to a person's family in former times, especially when the family is important and has property or land which they have had for a long time.
...the family's ancestral home in southern Germany.
...the ancestral portraits in the hallway.
Synonyms: inherited, hereditary, patriarchal, antecedent More Synonyms of ancestral
ancestral in British English
(ænˈsɛstrəl)
adjective
1.
of, inherited from, or derived from ancestors
his ancestral home
noun
2. logic
a relation that holds between x and y if there is a chain of instances of a given relation leading from x to y. Thus the ancestral of parent of is ancestor of, since x is the ancestor of y if and only if x is a parent of…a parent of…a parent of y
Derived forms
ancestrally (anˈcestrally)
adverb
ancestral in American English
(ænˈsɛstrəl)
adjective
of or inherited from an ancestor or ancestors
Derived forms
ancestrally (anˈcestrally)
adverb
Examples of 'ancestral' in a sentence
ancestral
Images of their son's rugged ancestral homeland were beamed into millions of American homes before the election.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They only know that their ancestral land is under threat.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Now 320,000 live in their ancestral homeland.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He has an ancestral seat near York.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
But if its showpiece has regained its ancestral home, it might just be at the expense of its soul.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They were made rich by the richest platinum deposits in the world on their 450 square miles of ancestral land.
The Sun (2009)
This is evident in the trait that most Sikhs who share an ancestral village will also have the same surname.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It helps them determine their own future by helping them fight to keep their ancestral lands, culture and way of life.
The Sun (2008)
If we think it is right for rhinos to return to their ancestral lands, the only option is to guard them.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
All of which and more I encountered on my childhood visits to my ancestral homeland.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The easy repartee within the group shows that many are old friends, but all have now bonded through transforming their ancestral homes into high-end venues.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
ancestral
British English: ancestral ADJECTIVE
You use ancestral to refer to a person's family in former times, especially when the family is important and has property or land which they have had for a long time.
...the family's ancestral home in southern Germany.
American English: ancestral
Brazilian Portuguese: ancestral
Chinese: 祖先的
European Spanish: ancestral
French: ancestral
German: angestammt
Italian: avito
Japanese: 先祖の
Korean: 조상 대대로의
European Portuguese: ancestral
Latin American Spanish: ancestral
Chinese translation of 'ancestral'
ancestral
(ænˈsɛstrəl)
adj
祖传(傳)的 (zǔchuán de)
(adjective)
Definition
of or inherited from ancestors
the family's ancestral home
Synonyms
inherited
hereditary
hereditary peerages
patriarchal
antecedent
forefatherly
genealogical
lineal
ancestorial
Additional synonyms
in the sense of hereditary
Definition
passed on to succeeding generations by inheritance