ancestor
/ˈænsestə(r)/noun
1- a person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended祖先:
he could trace his ancestors back to James the First.
他可以把先祖追溯到詹姆斯一世。
1.1
- an early type of animal or plant from which others have evolved(动植物的)原种。
1.2
- an early version of a machine, artefact, system, etc., which later became more developed(机械、人工制品或制度等的)原型。
词源
Middle English: from Old French ancestre, from Latin antecessor, from antecedere, from ante 'before' + cedere 'go'.