ancient
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: history
human-sciences
law
sciences
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 excrescent /t/ is by analogy with the common ending -ent.
Inflected forms:
form: ancienter
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more ancient
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: ancientest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most ancient
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: anchient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: aunchient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: auncient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: auntient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: awncient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: awntient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: ancyent
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: antient
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: ancients
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: anchient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: aunchient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: auncient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: auntient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: awncient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: awntient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: ancyent
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: antient
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old.
pos: adj
examples: an ancient city
an ancient forest
[P]ut the Caſe that the Nobleman of the ancienter Family does not indeed diſgrace his Dignity, but adds nothing to it; having nothing extraordinary to recommend him or diſrecommend him: Whereas the other, by his perſonal Merit, has rais'd himſelf to an equal Dignity. Which of the two in this Suppoſition deſerves the greater Eſteem?
'I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,' the Chief was saying. 'An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. They tell me there was a recognized swag-market down here.'
gloss: Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
pos: adj
examples: an ancient author
an ancient empire
Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands.
Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates promoted wine for various purposes, including reducing fevers and dressing wounds.
gloss: Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.
pos: adj
gloss: Experienced; versed.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: approved by the consent of the moste ancient doctors of the Churche [part of the book title]
gloss: Former; sometime.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: They mourned their ancient leader lost.
gloss: A person who is very old.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: A person who lived in ancient times.
pos: noun
examples: What is ancient for us was in its own time a reworking of what was ancient for the ancients.
gloss: One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.
pos: noun
tags: UK
gloss: A senior; an elder; a predecessor.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: Junius and Andronicus […] in Christianity […] were his ancients.
Synonyms: eldern
hoary
oldster
senior citizen
forerunner
Antonyms: modern
Related words: antic
antiquarian
antiquary
antiquated
antique
antiquity
Derived words: AADAOPA
anciency
ancient alien
ancient astronaut
ancient document
Ancient Egypt
ancient grain
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greek
ancient history
ancientism
ancient Kangleipak
ancient lights
anciently
Ancient Macedonian
ancient marineress
ancient monument
ancient Near Eastern
ancientness
ancient regime
Ancient Rome
ancientry
ancients
ancient times
nonancient
superancient
unancient
Translations: