What does ancient mean?
Definitions for ancient
ˈeɪn ʃəntan·cient
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word ancient.
Princeton's WordNet
ancient, antediluviannoun
a very old person
ancientadjective
a person who lived in ancient times
ancientadjective
belonging to times long past especially of the historical period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire
"ancient history"; "ancient civilizations such as those of the Etruscans and Sumerians"; "ancient Greece"
ancientadjective
very old
"an ancient mariner"
Wiktionary
ancientnoun
A person who is very old or who lived in ancient times.
Etymology: From auncyen, from ancien, from root *anteanus, from ante. Compare antique.
ancientnoun
A flag, banner, standard or ensign.
Etymology: From auncyen, from ancien, from root *anteanus, from ante. Compare antique.
ancientadjective
Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.
Etymology: From auncyen, from ancien, from root *anteanus, from ante. Compare antique.
ancientadjective
Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
Etymology: From auncyen, from ancien, from root *anteanus, from ante. Compare antique.
Webster Dictionary
Ancientadjective
old; that happened or existed in former times, usually at a great distance of time; belonging to times long past; specifically applied to the times before the fall of the Roman empire; -- opposed to modern; as, ancient authors, literature, history; ancient days
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientadjective
old; that has been of long duration; of long standing; of great age; as, an ancient forest; an ancient castle
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientadjective
known for a long time, or from early times; -- opposed to recent or new; as, the ancient continent
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientadjective
dignified, like an aged man; magisterial; venerable
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientadjective
experienced; versed
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientadjective
former; sometime
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientnoun
those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientnoun
an aged man; a patriarch. Hence: A governor; a ruler; a person of influence
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientnoun
a senior; an elder; a predecessor
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientnoun
one of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientnoun
an ensign or flag
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Ancientnoun
the bearer of a flag; an ensign
Etymology: [Corrupted from ensign.]
Freebase
Ancient
The Ancients are a humanoid race in the fictional Stargate universe. They are called "Ancients" in the Milky Way, but are also known as Lanteans or Ancestors in the Pegasus galaxy and as the Alterans in their home galaxy, and they sometimes call themselves Anquietas in their language. In the series mythology, they are one of the most advanced races known to have existed; they evolved millions of years before the present day and reached their level of technology long before humanity evolved on Earth. They are best known as the builders of the Stargates, the giant ring-shaped portals commonly used by Earth-based humans to travel and explore the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. The Ancients have become an important race in all three Stargate series. They belong to the same race as the Ori, the main antagonists in Stargate SG-1 since the show's ninth season, and have played a large role in the series' many story arcs. In Stargate Atlantis, the Ancients built Atlantis, the show's main setting, and are responsible for the emergence of the show's two main villain races: the Wraith and the Asurans. In Stargate Universe they are the ones that have built and launched the ship Destiny on its journey.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Ancient
ān′shent, adj. old: belonging to former times, specifically, of times prior to the downfall of the western Roman empire (476 A.D.): of great age or duration: of past times in a general sense: venerable: antique, old-fashioned.—n. an aged man, a patriarch: a superior in age or dignity.—adv. An′ciently.—ns. An′cientness; An′cientry, ancientness, seniority: ancestry: dignity of birth: (Shak.) old people.—n.pl. An′cients, those who lived in remote times, esp. the Greeks and Romans of classical times: (B.) elders.—The Ancient of days, a title in the Holy Scriptures for the Almighty, applied by Byron to Athens. [Fr. ancien—Low L. antianus, old—L. ante, before. See Antique.]
Ancient
ān′shent, n. (obs.) a flag or its bearer: an ensign. [Corr. of Fr. enseigne. See Ensign.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
ancient
A term formerly used for the colours and their bearer, as ensign is now. Shakspeare's Nym was only a corporal, but Pistol was an ancient.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
ancient
A term formerly used to express the grand ensign or standard of an army.
Suggested Resources
ancient
Song lyrics by ancient -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by ancient on the Lyrics.com website.
Etymology and Origins
Ancient
Iago is described as Othello’s “ancient.” Even in Shakespeare’s day this word was a corruption of ensign, or standard-bearer.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'ancient' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2009
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'ancient' in Adjectives Frequency: #272
Anagrams for ancient »
catenin
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of ancient in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of ancient in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Examples of ancient in a Sentence
This is very important because it means that you will have multiple time periods in which we could potentially learn about environmental conditions on Mars, and we also have multiple time periods where we might be able to look for evidence of ancient life that might have existed on the planet.
Studying ancient diseases and wounds is important for modern medical research ... we can study the cancer or the arteriosclerosis of the past and this can be useful for modern research.
Once you take ancient metalwork out of the ground, it starts to degrade, we need to stabilize it again. That's done with chemical treatments.
If we don't use this, then what else? Every finding is another helper from the ancient Greeks.
Rafi Eitan told Fox News Leland Vittert. Eventually, the man admitted he was Adolf Eichmann. With more derring-do, Rafi Eitan and his fellow commandoes spirited Eichmann out of Argentina and brought him back to Israel where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. ANCIENT CLAY JAR FRAGMENT DEPICTING GROTESQUE DEITY DISCOVERED IN JERUSALEMS CITY OF DAVID At a reunion for those involved in Eichmanns capture and trial some years ago, Rafi Eitan recalled Eichmanns capturewith a twinkle in Rafi Eitan eye. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP I was 51 years younger( then), but I am able and ready to do the same thing again.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for ancient
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- قديم, عتيق, القديمةArabic
- antic, vetustCatalan, Valencian
- starobylýCzech
- antik, uraltGerman
- αρχαίοςGreek
- malnovegaEsperanto
- antiguoSpanish
- ammoinen, muinainen, ikivanhaFinnish
- antique, ancienFrench
- ársaIrish
- प्राचीनHindi
- ősiHungarian
- հնադարյան, հինավուրց, հինArmenian
- anticoItalian
- עתיקHebrew
- 古代, 古いJapanese
- 고대Korean
- priscus, antiquus, senex, vetusLatin
- sensLatvian
- awekoMāori
- kunoMalay
- ရှေးBurmese
- weleers, antiek, eertijds, oeroud, eeuwenoudDutch
- eldgammelNorwegian
- starożytnyPolish
- antigoPortuguese
- machuQuechua
- древний, старинный, античныйRussian
- drevan, starodrevan, starSerbo-Croatian
- forntida, forn, urgammal, uråldrig, antikSwedish
- ప్రాచీనTelugu
- eski, antika, antikTurkish
- стародавнійUkrainian
- 古Chinese
Get even more translations for ancient »
Translation
Find a translation for the ancient definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"ancient." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 26 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/ancient>.
Discuss these ancient definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In