ancient

[An·cient]

Ancient means very old. Sometimes there's a sense of "older than old." My grandmother, bless her soul, lived until she was positively ancient.

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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.

Adjective S.
very old; "an ancient mariner"

Adjective S.
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"

a.
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.

a.
Old; that has been of long duration; of long standing; of great age; as, an ancient forest; an ancient castle.

a.
Known for a long time, or from early times; -- opposed to recent or new; as, the ancient continent.

a.
Dignified, like an aged man; magisterial; venerable.

a.
Experienced; versed.

a.
Former; sometime.

n.
Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns.

n.
An aged man; a patriarch. Hence: A governor; a ruler; a person of influence.

n.
A senior; an elder; a predecessor.

n.
One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.

n.
An ensign or flag.

n.
The bearer of a flag; an ensign.

Ancient

An"cient , a. [OE. auncien, F. ancien, LL. antianus, fr. L. ante before. See Ante-, pref.] 1. 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.

Witness those ancient empires of the earth.

Gildas Albanius . . . much ancienter than his namesake surnamed the Wise.

2. Old; that has been of long duration; of long standing; of great age; as, an ancient forest; an ancient castle. "Our ancient bickerings." Shak.

Remove not the ancient landmarks, which thy fathers have set.

An ancient man, strangely habited, asked for quarters.

3. Known for a long time, or from early times; -- opposed to recent or new; as, the ancient continent.

A friend, perhaps, or an ancient acquaintance.

4. Dignified, like an aged man; magisterial; venerable. [Archaic]

He wrought but some few hours of the day, and then would he seem very grave and ancient.

5. Experienced; versed. [Obs.]

Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm.

6. Former; sometime. [Obs.]

They mourned their ancient leader lost.

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, Antiquated, Obsolete, Antique, Antic, Old. -- Ancient is opposed to modern, and has antiquity; as, an ancient family, ancient landmarks, ancient institutions, systems of thought, etc. Antiquated describes that which has gone out of use or fashion; as, antiquated furniture, antiquated laws, rules, etc. Obsolete is commonly used, instead of antiquated, in reference to language, customs, etc.; as, an obsolete word or phrase, an obsolete expression. Antique is applied, in present usage, either to that which has come down from the ancients; as, an antique cameo, bust, etc. ; or to that which is made to imitate some ancient work of art; as, an antique temple. In the days of Shakespeare, antique was often used for ancient; as, "an antique song," "an antique Roman;" and hence, from singularity often attached to what is ancient, it was used in the sense of grotesque; as, "an oak whose antique root peeps out; " and hence came our present word antic, denoting grotesque or ridiculous. We usually apply both ancient and old to things subject to gradual decay. We say, an old man, an ancient record; but never, the old stars, an old river or mountain. In general, however, ancient is opposed to modern, and old to new, fresh, or recent. When we speak of a thing that existed formerly, which has ceased to exist, we commonly use ancient; as, ancient republics, ancient heroes; and not old republics, old heroes. But when the thing which began or existed in former times is still in existence, we use either ancient or old; as, ancient statues or paintings, or old statues or paintings; ancient authors, or old authors, meaning books.

Ancient

An"cient, n. 1. pl. Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns. 2. An aged man; a patriarch. Hence: A governor; a ruler; a person of influence.

The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof.

3. A senior; an elder; a predecessor. [Obs.]

Junius and Andronicus . . . in Christianity . . . were his ancients.

4. pl. (Eng. Law) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery. Council of Ancients (French Hist.), one of the two assemblies composing the legislative bodies in 1795. Brande.

Ancient

An"cient, n. [Corrupted from ensign.] 1. An ensign or flag. [Obs.]

More dishonorable ragged than an old-faced ancient.

2. The bearer of a flag; an ensign. [Obs.]

This is Othello's ancient, as I take it.

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.

Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns.

An ensign or flag.

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Usage Examples

I like things that are kind of eclectic, when one thing doesn't go with another. That's why I love Rome. The town itself is that way. It's where Fascist architecture meets classic Renaissance, where the ancient bangs up against the contemporary. It has a touch of everything. That's my style, and that's what my work is about.

I like the fact that in ancient Chinese art the great painters always included a deliberate flaw in their work: human creation is never perfect.

Beauty is the disinterested one, without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which both imperceptibly and yet unmistakably has bid farewell to our new world, a world of interests, leaving it to its own avarice and sadness.

Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?

A book has got smell. A new book smells great. An old book smells even better. An old book smells like ancient Egypt.

I love studying Ancient History and seeing how empires rise and fall, sowing the seeds of their own destruction.

Ancient recipients of instant news probably couldn't do very much about it, for instance. Xerxes would still need three months to get his army together, and he might not get home for years.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love.

Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.

Another important historical factor is the fact that this already very simple religion was further simplified and purified by the early philosophers of ancient China. Our first great philosopher was a founder of naturalism and our second great philosopher was an agnostic.

But, strictly speaking, this mythology was no essential part of ancient religion, for it had no sacred sanction and no binding force on the worshippers.

Academe, n.: An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught. Academy, n.: A modern school where football is taught.

Each day as I travel through downtown Tucson, I am amazed at how quickly the most ancient of human behaviors have changed. For as long as there have been Homo sapiens - roughly 200,000 years - people have filled their lives principally with two activities: talking directly with other people, and doing physical things.

Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war.

Focus on the mind and the soul. Read. Study. Enrol in a course of lectures. Pray. Become a member of a religious congregation. Study the Bible or other ancient works of wisdom.

According to an ancient Sardinian legend, the bodies of those who are born on Christmas Eve will never dissolve into dust but are preserved until the end of time.