Ancient

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: an=cient

CIDE DICTIONARY

Ancient, a. [OE. auncien, F. ancien, LL. antianus, fr. L. ante before. See Ante-, pref.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Witness those ancient empires of the earth."  [1913 Webster]

  "Gildas Albanius . . . much ancienter than his namesake surnamed the Wise."  [1913 Webster]
•  Old; that has been of long duration; of long standing; of great age; as, an ancient forest; an ancient castle.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "Remove not the ancient landmarks, which thy fathers have set."  [1913 Webster]

  "An ancient man, strangely habited, asked for quarters."  [1913 Webster]
•  Known for a long time, or from early times; -- opposed to recent or new; as, the ancient continent.  [1913 Webster]

  "A friend, perhaps, or an ancient acquaintance."  [1913 Webster]
•  Dignified, like an aged man; magisterial; venerable.  [1913 Webster]

  "He wrought but some few hours of the day, and then would he seem very grave and ancient."  [1913 Webster]
•  Experienced; versed.  [1913 Webster]

  "Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm."  [1913 Webster]
•  Former; sometime.  [1913 Webster]

  "They mourned their ancient leader lost."  [1913 Webster]

Ancient demesne (Eng. Law), a tenure by which all manors belonging to the crown, in the reign of William the Conqueror, were held. The numbers, names, etc., of these were all entered in a book called Domesday Book. -- Ancient lights (Law), windows and other openings which have been enjoined without molestation for more than twenty years. In England, and in some of the United States, they acquire a prescriptive right.

Syn. -- Old; primitive; pristine; antique; antiquated; old-fashioned; obsolete.

Ancient, n. 

•  Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns.  [1913 Webster]
•  An aged man; a patriarch. Hence: A governor; a ruler; a person of influence.  [1913 Webster]

  "The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof."  [1913 Webster]
•  A senior; an elder; a predecessor.  [1913 Webster]

  "Junius and Andronicus . . . in Christianity . . . were his ancients."  [1913 Webster]
•  One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.  [1913 Webster]

Council of Ancients (French Hist.), one of the two assemblies composing the legislative bodies in 1795. Brande.

Ancient, n. [Corrupted from ensign.].

•  An ensign or flag.  [1913 Webster]

  "More dishonorable ragged than an old-faced ancient."  [1913 Webster]
•  The bearer of a flag; an ensign.  [1913 Webster]

  "This is Othello's ancient, as I take it."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Ancient, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of long ago.
2 having lived or existed long.
--n. archaic an old man.

Idiom

ancient history
1 the history of the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean area and the Near East before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476.
2 something already long familiar. ancient lights a window that a neighbour may not deprive of light by building. ancient monument Brit. an old building etc. preserved usu. under Government control. the ancients the people of ancient times, esp. the Greeks and Romans.

Derivative

ancientness n.

Ancient, n. archaic = ENSIGN.

Etymology

corrupt. of form ensyne etc. by assoc. with ancien = ANCIENT(1)

THESAURUS

Ancient

Bronze Age man, Hominidae, Iron Age man, Stone Age man, abiding, aboriginal, aborigine, advanced, advanced in life, advanced in years, age-long, age-old, aged, ageing, ageless, along in years, antediluvian, anthropoid, antiquated, antique, ape-man, archaic, auld, autochthon, better, brass hat, bushman, bygone, cave dweller, caveman, chronic, constant, continuing, dateless, diuturnal, doddering, doting, durable, earlier, early, elder, elderly, enduring, erstwhile, evergreen, fading, fore, forgotten, former, fossil, fossil man, fossilized, golden-ager, gray, gray with age, gray-haired, gray-headed, grey, grown old, hardy, higher-up, hoar, hoary, hominid, humanoid, immemorial, immutable, intransient, inveterate, lasting, late, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, macrobiotic, man of old, missing link, obsolescent, obsolete, of long duration, of long standing, of old, of yore, old, old as Methuselah, old as history, old as time, old-fashioned, old-time, old-timer, olden, once, onetime, past, patriarchal, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, perpetual, persistent, persisting, preadamite, prehistoric, prehistoric man, prehuman, previous, primal, primate, primeval, primitive, primordial, prior, pristine, protohuman, quondam, recent, remaining, remote, sempervirent, senectuous, senior, senior citizen, sinking, sometime, stable, staying, steadfast, superannuated, then, timeless, timeworn, tough, traditional, troglodyte, unfading, venerable, vital, waning, wasting, white, white with age, white-bearded, white-crowned, white-haired, wrinkled, wrinkly, years old

ROGET THESAURUS

Ancient

Oldness

N oldness, age, antiquity, cobwebs of antiquity, maturity, decline, decay, senility, seniority, eldership, primogeniture, archaism, thing of the past, relic of the past, megatherium, Sanskrit, tradition, prescription, custom, immemorial usage, common law, old, ancient, antique, of long standing, time-honored, venerable, elder, eldest, firstborn, prime, primitive, primeval, primigenous, paleolontological, paleontologic, paleoanthropological, paleoanthropic, paleolithic, primordial, primordinate, aboriginal, diluvian, antediluvian, protohistoric, prehistoric, antebellum, colonial, precolumbian, patriarchal, preadamite, paleocrystic, fossil, paleozoolical, paleozoic, preglacial, antemundane, archaic, classic, medieval, Pre-Raphaelite, ancestral, black-letter, immemorial, traditional, prescriptive, customary, whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contr, inveterate, rooted, antiquated, of other times, rococo, of the old school, after-age, obsolete, out of date, out of fashion, out of it, stale, old-fashioned, behind the age, old-world, exploded, gone out, gone by, passe, run out, senile, time worn, crumbling, secondhand, old as the hills, old as Methuselah, old as Adam, old as history, Archeozoic, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Paleogene, Neocene, Quaternary, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Recent, since the world was made, since the year one, since the days of Methuselah, vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.

Indication

N indication, symbolism, symbolization, semiology, semiotics, semeiology, semeiotics, Zeitgeist, characteristic, diagnostic, lineament, feature, trait, fingerprint, voiceprint, footprint, noseprint, cloven hoof, footfall, recognition (memory), diagnostic, divining rod, detector, sign, symbol, index, indice, indicator, point, pointer, exponent, note, token, symptom, dollar sign, dollar mark, type, figure, emblem, cipher, device, representation, epigraph, motto, posy, gesture, gesticulation, pantomime, wink, glance, leer, nod, shrug, beck, touch, nudge, dactylology, dactylonomy, freemasonry, telegraphy, chirology, byplay, dumb show, cue, hint, clue, clew, key, scent, signal, signal post, rocket, blue light, watch fire, watch tower, telegraph, semaphore, flagstaff, cresset, fiery cross, calumet, heliograph, guidon, headlight, mark, scratch, line, stroke, dash, score, stripe, streak, tick, dot, point, notch, nick, print, imprint, impress, impression, keyboard symbols, printing symbols, red letter, italics, sublineation, underlining, bold font, jotting, note, annotation, reference, blaze, cedilla, guillemets, hachure, quotation marks, ", double quotes, " ", parentheses, "( )", brackets, "", braces, "", left arrow, "<", right arrow, ">", forward slash, "/", backward slash, "\", exclamation point, "!", commercial at, "@", pound sign, "#", percent sign, "%", carat, "", ampersand, "&", asterisk, "*", hyphen, "-", dash, "-", "_", em dash, "--", plus sign, "+", equals sign, "=", question mark, "?", period, ", ", semicolon, ", ", colon, ":", comma, ", ", apostrophe, "'", single quote, "'", tilde, "~", badge, criterion, countercheck, countermark, countersign, counterfoil, duplicate, tally, label, ticket, billet, letter, counter, check, chip, chop, dib, totem, tessera, card, bill, witness, voucher, stamp, cacher, trade mark, Hall mark, signature, mark, autograph, autography, attestation, hand, hand writing, sign manual, cipher, seal, sigil, signet, hand and seal, paraph, brand, superscription, indorsement, endorsement, password, watchword, catchword, security card, pass, passkey, credentials, open sesame, timbrology, mot de passe, mot du guet, pass-parole, shibboleth, title, heading, docket, address card, visiting card, carte de visite, insignia, banner, banneret, bannerol, bandrol, flag, colors, streamer, standard, eagle, labarum, oriflamb, oriflamme, figurehead, ensign, pennon, pennant, pendant, burgee, blue Peter, jack, ancient, gonfalon, union jack, banderole, old glory, quarantine flag, vexillum, yellow-flag, yellow jack, tricolor, stars and stripes, bunting, heraldry, crest, coat of arms, arms, armorial bearings, hatchment, escutcheon, scutcheon, shield, supporters, livery, uniform, cockade, epaulet, chevron, garland, love knot, favor, beacon, cairn, post, staff, flagstaff, hand, pointer, vane, cock, weathercock, guidepost, handpost, fingerpost, directing post, signpost, pillars of Hercules, pharos, bale-fire, beacon-fire, l'etoile du Nord, landmark, seamark, lighthouse, balize, polestar, loadstar, lodestar, cynosure, guide, address, direction, name, sign, signboard, warning, omen, prefigurement, trace, record, warning &c, alarm, scepter, trophy, gauge, milestone, milepost, brand, fool's cap, check, telltale, test, mileage ticket, milliary, notification, advertisement, word of command, call, bugle call, trumpet call, bell, alarum, cry, battle cry, rallying cry, angelus, reveille, sacring bell, sanctus bell, exposition &c (explanation), proof, pattern, indicating, indicative, indicatory, denotative, connotative, diacritical, representative, typical, symbolic, pantomimic, pathognomonic, symptomatic, characteristic, demonstrative, diagnostic, exponential, emblematic, armorial, individual, known by, recognizable by, indicated, pointed, marked, denotable, indelible, in token of, symbolically, in dumb show, ecce signum, ex ungue leonem, ex pede Herculem, vide ut supra, vultus ariete fortior.