/an"ses tree/ or, esp. Brit., /-seuh stree/ , n. , pl. ancestries .
1. family or ancestral descent; lineage.
2. honorable or distinguished descent: famous by title and ancestry.
3. a series of ancestors: His ancestry settled Utah.
4. the inception or origin of a phenomenon, object, idea, or style.
5. the history or developmental process of a phenomenon, object, idea, or style.
[ 1300-50; ME, equiv. to ancestre ANCESTOR + -Y 3 ; r. ME aunce ( s ) trie ]
Syn. 1. pedigree, genealogy, stock. 3. family, line.