as in lineage
the line of ancestors from whom a person is descended
a Cambodian immigrant who can trace her Khmer ancestry as far back as the 16th century
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ancestry
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the world, with roughly 80,000 residents of Somali ancestry.
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Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
Tracy Jones is a poet, writer, and multidisciplinary artist whose work explores existential dimensions of technology, spirituality, ancestry, and the environment.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Jan. 2026
The results reveal structural parallels across many organisms without any shared ancestry.
—Anirban Mukhopadhyay, Scientific American, 5 Jan. 2026
With ancestry dating back to the 1500s, the hunting breed used to hunt a variety of different game in France.
—Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ancestry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestry
Noun
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Most of these acquisitions occurred during a relatively narrow window in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, some 140 million years ago, just before many major lineages began to diverge quickly (in evolutionary terms, anyway).—
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Images of Marie Antoinette, alongside photographs of Russian Jewish women in the early 20th century, place contemporary practice with the long lineage of the spiritual practice.—
Noun
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Brashers had already been identified as a likely suspect in that case in 2018 through investigative genetic genealogy.—
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For decades, the case remained cold until new DNA methods and forensic genealogy helped point authorities to a suspect and eventually connect Schmidt to the crime.—
Noun
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The Pentagon has since been testing the portable, backpack-sized device, which emits pulsed, radio-frequency energy and contains components of Russian origin.—
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Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon all have sites with Phoenician origins.—
Noun
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That type of pedigree is why the Giants pulled out all the stops to land Harbaugh.—
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The job opening boasts unprecedented stability, championship pedigree, and stable ownership, among other things.—
Noun
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Predicting Hubble’s descent to Earth The Hubble Space Telescope was lifted to a higher orbit several times by Space Shuttle missions between 1993 and 2009.—
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The worker, who has not been identified, is said to be a data analyst of Venezuelan descent who had no prior arrests and is authorized to remain in the country until October, Council Speaker Julie Menin said.—
Noun
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Through a life-saving program at the American Red Cross, volunteers go door to door across Los Angeles, helping people protect their homes and families before a fire ever starts.—
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Despite the warning, Andrea and Rusty went on to expand their family.—
Noun
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In the western Sierra Madres of Mexico, a big cat named Libélula is the matriarch of the largest breeding jaguar population in North America.—
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The bucolic lands, home to cutting, reining and full-care breeding and foaling among many operations, sit 18 miles northwest of Weatherford.—
Cite this Entry
“Ancestry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestry. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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