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
  • One of the lineages appears to have interbred directly with Homo sapiens in Africa more than 50,000 years ago, while the other was an even older group that passed some of its DNA to humans indirectly through Denisovans.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
  • In addition, the way in initial cases occurred in clusters within the market and the distribution of the earliest viral lineages, is consistent with the likelihood that several separate animal-to-human spillover events took place in late 2019.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of lineages
Noun
  • Global flavors with local pedigrees provide the secret sauce for Seattle’s culinary scene.
    — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 29 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of pedigrees
Noun
  • The scientists’ method reconstructs genealogies, or maps showing where different pieces of DNA came from and how they were passed down, revealing branches of our evolutionary past.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The seal texts often introduced the owners with their names, genealogies, gender, professions and hometowns.
    — Serdar Yalçin, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 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 5 Sep. 2026.

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