ancient
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Alternative forms
- anchient (obsolete)
- antient (obsolete)
- aunchient (obsolete)
- auncient (obsolete)
- auntient (obsolete)
- awncient (obsolete)
- awntient (obsolete)
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English auncyen, from Old French ancien (“old”), from Latin root *anteanus, from ante (“before”). Compare antique.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
ancient (comparative ancienter or more ancient, superlative ancientest or most ancient)
- Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.
- an ancient city
- an ancient forest
- Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
- an ancient author
- an ancient empire
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from ancient
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
having lasted from a remote period
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existent or occurring in time long past
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Translations to be checked
[edit] Noun
ancient (plural ancients)
- A person who is very old or who lived in ancient times.
- (heraldry, archaic) A flag, banner, standard or ensign.
- 1719: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- I got all things ready as he had directed, and waited the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out, and everything to accommodate his guests..
- 1719: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
[edit] References
- The Manual of Heraldry, Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at [1]
- ancient in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- ancient in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- ancient at OneLook Dictionary Search
[edit] Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: reach · secret · showed · #672: ancient · parts · getting · stay