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An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). Ancestor is "any person from whom one is descended. In law, the person from whom an estate has been inherited."
Relationship
Two individuals have a genetic relationship if one is the ancestor of the other or if they share a common ancestor. In evolutionary theory, species which share an evolutionary ancestor are said to be of common descent. However, this concept of ancestry does not apply to some bacteria and other organisms capable of horizontal gene transfer. Some research suggests that the average person has twice as many female ancestors as male ancestors. This might have been due to the past prevalence of polygynous relations and female hypergamy.
Assuming that all of an individual's ancestors are otherwise unrelated to each other, that individual has 2n ancestors in the nth generation before them and a total of 2g+1 − 2 ancestors in the g generations before them. In practice, however, it is clear that most ancestors of humans (and any other species) are multiply related (see pedigree collapse). Consider n = 40: the human species is more than 40 generations old, yet the number 240, approximately 1012 or one trillion, dwarfs the number of humans who have ever lived.
Some cultures confer reverence to ancestors, both living and dead; in contrast, some more youth-oriented cultural contexts display less veneration of elders. In other cultural contexts, ancestor worship or, more accurately, ancestor veneration is when people seek providence[further explanation needed] from their deceased ancestors.
See also
- Archaic humans
- Collateral descendant
- Consanguinity
- DNA
- Mitochondrial DNA
- Y chromosome
- Ethnic group
- Family
- Genealogy
- Genetic genealogy
- Kinship
- Lineage (anthropology)
- Lineal descendant
- Most recent common ancestor
- Progenitor
Citations
- "Thesaurus results for FOREFATHER". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
- Websters New World Dictionary. Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company.
- Tierney, John (5 September 2007). "The Missing Men in Your Family Tree". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- Hu, Anning (2016). "Ancestor Worship in Contemporary China: An Empirical Investigation". China Review. 16 (1): 169–186. JSTOR 43709965. Archived from the original on 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- Clark, Kelly James (2005-12-01). "The gods of Abraham, Isaiah, and Confucius". Dao. 5 (1): 109–136. doi:10.1007/bf02857007. ISSN 1540-3009. S2CID 170986424.
External links
- United States Census Bureau
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Ancestor news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message This article about biology may be excessively human centric Please improve coverage for other species and discuss this issue on the talk page January 2025 Learn how and when to remove this message An ancestor also known as a forefather fore elder or a forebear is a parent or recursively the parent of an antecedent i e a grandparent great grandparent great great grandparent and so forth Ancestor is any person from whom one is descended In law the person from whom an estate has been inherited RelationshipTwo individuals have a genetic relationship if one is the ancestor of the other or if they share a common ancestor In evolutionary theory species which share an evolutionary ancestor are said to be of common descent However this concept of ancestry does not apply to some bacteria and other organisms capable of horizontal gene transfer Some research suggests that the average person has twice as many female ancestors as male ancestors This might have been due to the past prevalence of polygynous relations and female hypergamy Assuming that all of an individual s ancestors are otherwise unrelated to each other that individual has 2n ancestors in the nth generation before them and a total of 2g 1 2 ancestors in the g generations before them In practice however it is clear that most ancestors of humans and any other species are multiply related see pedigree collapse Consider n 40 the human species is more than 40 generations old yet the number 240 approximately 1012 or one trillion dwarfs the number of humans who have ever lived Some cultures confer reverence to ancestors both living and dead in contrast some more youth oriented cultural contexts display less veneration of elders In other cultural contexts ancestor worship or more accurately ancestor veneration is when people seek providence further explanation needed from their deceased ancestors See alsoArchaic humans Collateral descendant Consanguinity DNA Mitochondrial DNA Y chromosome Ethnic group Family Genealogy Genetic genealogy Kinship Lineage anthropology Lineal descendant Most recent common ancestor ProgenitorCitations Thesaurus results for FOREFATHER Merriam Webster Online Dictionary Archived from the original on 2020 04 07 Retrieved 2020 04 07 Websters New World Dictionary Cleveland and New York The World Publishing Company Tierney John 5 September 2007 The Missing Men in Your Family Tree The New York Times Archived from the original on 5 May 2018 Retrieved 5 May 2018 Hu Anning 2016 Ancestor Worship in Contemporary China An Empirical Investigation China Review 16 1 169 186 JSTOR 43709965 Archived from the original on 2022 05 02 Retrieved 2022 05 02 Clark Kelly James 2005 12 01 The gods of Abraham Isaiah and Confucius Dao 5 1 109 136 doi 10 1007 bf02857007 ISSN 1540 3009 S2CID 170986424 External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Ancestors Look up ancestor in Wiktionary the free dictionary Wikiquote has quotations related to Ancestors United States Census Bureau
