ancient

Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• anchient (obsolete)
• antient (obsolete)
• aunchient (obsolete)
• auncient (obsolete)
• auntient (obsolete)
• awncient (obsolete)
• awntient (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English auncyen, from Old French ancien (“old”), from Latin root *anteanus, from ante (“before”). Compare antique.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈeɪnʃənt/, SAMPA: /"eInS@nt/
• also IPA: /ˈeɪntʃənt/, SAMPA: /"eIntS@nt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

ancient (comparative ancienter or more ancient, superlative ancientest or most ancient)

1. Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.

   an ancient city

   an ancient forest

2. 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

Antonyms

• modern

Derived terms

terms derived from ancient

Ancient Egypt Ancient Greece Ancient Macedonian

ancient pyramid Ancient Rome ancientry

Related terms

antic antique antiquary

antiquarian antiquated antiquity

Translations

having lasted from a remote period

Arabic: قديم (ar) (qadiim), عتيق (ar) (3atiiq) Chinese: Mandarin: 古代 (zh) (gǔdài), 古老 (zh) (gǔlǎo), 古舊 (zh), 古旧 (zh) (gǔjiù) Croatian: star (hr) m., drevan (hr) m., starodrevan (hr) m. Dutch: antiek (nl), oeroud (nl) Esperanto: malnovega (eo) Finnish: muinainen (fi), ammoinen (fi) French: ancien (fr), antique (fr) German: uralt (de), antik (de)

Greek: Ancient: ἀρχαῖος (arkheos) m. Modern αρχαίος (el) (archaíos) m. Japanese: 古代 (ja) (こだい, kodai), 古い (ja) (ふるい, furui) Latin: priscus (la) m., antiquus (la) m., vetus (la) m., senex (la) m. Latvian: sens (lv) Russian: древний (ru) (drévnij), старинный (ru) (starínnyj), античный (ru) (antíčnyj) Spanish: antiguo (es) Turkish: antik (tr), eski (tr), antika (tr)

existent or occurring in time long past

Greek: Ancient: ἀρχαῖος (arkheos) m. Modern αρχαίος (el) (archaíos) m. Irish: ársa (ga)

Latgalian: senejs Latvian: sens (lv) Russian: древний (ru) (drévnij) Spanish: antiguo (es) Swedish: antik (sv), uråldrig (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: lashtë (sq) Anglo-Norman: ancien Armenian: հնադարյան (hy) (hnadaryan), հինավուրց (hy) (hinavurc’) Bulgarian: древен (bg) (dreven), античен (bg) (antičen) Burmese: ရှေး (my) (sheii) Chinese, Simplified: 古代的, 古旧的, 旧的 Chinese, Traditional: 古代的, 古舊的, 舊的 Croatian: drevan (hr), antički (hr), prastar (hr) Czech: starobylý (cs), starověký (cs), dávný (cs) Dutch: antiek (nl), oeroud (nl) Esperanto: antikva (eo) Ewe: blema n. Finnish: ikivanha (fi), muinainen (fi) French: antique (fr), ancien (fr) Georgian: უძველესი (ka) German: antik (de) Hebrew: עתיק (atiq) m., עתיקה (atiqa) f. Hungarian: antik (hu), ősi (hu)

Icelandic: forn (is) Ido: antiqua (io), anciena (io) Indonesian: ngak baru, sudah tua, Kuno (id) Italian: antico (it) Japanese: 古代の (こだいの) Korean: 고대의 Lao: ບູຮານ (lo) (buuhaan) Latin: antiquus, antiquarius Malagasy: ela Maltese: antik m., antika f., qadim m., qadima f., arkajk m., arkajka f. Old English: eald (ang), gamol (ang) Persian: باستانی (baastaani) Polish: antyczny (pl), starożytny (pl), stary (pl) Portuguese: antigo (pt) m., antiga (pt) f. Scots: auncient Scottish Gaelic: àrsaidh (gd) Slovene: prastar m., prastara f., prastaro n. Telugu: పురాతన (puraatana)

Noun

ancient (plural ancients)

1. A person who is very old or who lived in ancient times.
2. (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..

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

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: reach · secret · showed · #672: ancient · parts · getting · stay

Anagrams

• catenin