[an.ces.tor] n [ME ancestre, fr. OF, fr. L antecessor predecessor, fr. antecedere to go before, fr. ante- + cedere to go--more at cede] (13c) 1 a: one from whom a person is descended and who is usu. more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent b: forefather 2
2: forerunner, prototype
3: a progenitor of a more recent or existing species or group