ancestries

noun

plural of ancestry
as in lineages
the line of ancestors from whom a person is descended a Cambodian immigrant who can trace her Khmer ancestry as far back as the 16th century

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ancestries But Shanes questioned whether grouping Jews under a single ethnic category would produce sufficiently specific data for those purposes, or instead obscure differences among Jewish populations with distinct ancestries. — Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2026 This technique overcomes limitations of older methods like genotyping arrays, which were often biased towards European ancestries and less accurate. — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 In a small number of cases, similar ancestries were grouped together. — Albert Sun, New York Times, 2 July 2026 Eastern and western ancestries in Karelian Mesolithic dogs suggest that two lineages diverged during the Paleolithic. — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 30 Mar. 2026 That drops to 49% for Hispanic/Latino patients, 29% for Black patients and even lower for mixed ancestries, the NMDP reports. — Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 20 Mar. 2026 But many Chicanos trace their lineage to indigenous peoples who survived Spanish colonization, often carrying mixed indigenous, Spanish, and other ancestries, a testament to survival and cultural fusion. — David Alvarado, Time, 15 Dec. 2025 This lack of representation is problematic for people of different ancestries because genetic risk factors differ across populations. — Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestries
  1. lineages
  2. pedigrees
  3. genealogies
  4. origins
Noun
  • Rather than reflecting genuinely absent enzymes, these gaps could simply mirror methodological limitations in the phylogenetic reconstruction that prevented the identification of all the original ancient enzymes in bacterial and archaean lineages.
    — Philip Ball, Scientific American, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The fossil indicates that lineages closely related to the Euparkeriidae were also present in South America, highlighting the continent’s role in the early diversification of the relatives of dinosaurs and crocodiles.
    — The Conversation, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of lineages
Noun
  • The cast has become a kind of living monument to New York theater, with Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Donna Murphy, Kelli O’Hara, Audra McDonald, and many others bringing Broadway pedigrees to the series.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026
  • That’s why the mission was to create waves on the defensive line, to add game-changers built for big moments, such as Dexter Lawrence, and to focus on players with winning, championship pedigrees.
    — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of pedigrees
Noun
  • The seal texts often introduced the owners with their names, genealogies, gender, professions and hometowns.
    — Serdar Yalçin, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Transcripts, grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, glyph studies, botanical studies, commentaries, articles, editions of codices, correspondence, maps, charts, drawings, photographs, Maya Society materials, genealogies of Maya families, and Mayan glyphs on moveable type.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
Definition of genealogies
Noun
  • Norway’s monarchy has old roots, tracing its origins to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century.
    — Jan M. Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Others turn them off to disguise the origins of the shipment.
    — Jane Arraf, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of origins

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Cite this Entry

“Ancestries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestries. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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