ancient

an·cient ¹

 (ān′shənt)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or belonging to times long past, especially before the fall of the Western Roman Empire (ad 476): ancient cultures. See Synonyms at old.

2. Of great age; very old: "The males live up to six months—positively ancient, for a bee" (Elizabeth Royte).

3. Archaic Having the qualities associated with age, wisdom, or long use; venerable: "You seem a sober, ancient Gentleman by your habit" (Shakespeare).

n.

1. A very old person.

2. A person who lived in times long past.

3. ancients

a. The peoples of the classical nations of antiquity.

b. The ancient Greek and Roman authors.

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[Middle English auncien, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *anteānus : Latin ante, before; see ant- in Indo-European roots + -ānus, adj. and n. suff.]

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an′cient·ly adv.

an′cient·ness n.

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an·cient ²

 (ān′shənt)

n.

1. Archaic An ensign; a flag.

2. Obsolete A flag-bearer or lieutenant.

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[Alteration of ensign.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ancient

(ˈeɪnʃənt)

adj

1. dating from very long ago: ancient ruins.

2. very old; aged

3. (Historical Terms) of the far past, esp before the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (476 ad). Compare medieval, modern

4. (Law) law having existed since before the time of legal memory

n

5. (Historical Terms) (often plural) a member of a civilized nation in the ancient world, esp a Greek, Roman, or Hebrew

6. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (often plural) one of the classical authors of Greek or Roman antiquity

7. archaic an old man

[C14: from Old French ancien, from Vulgar Latin anteanus (unattested), from Latin ante before]

ˈancientness n

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ancient

(ˈeɪnʃənt)

n

1. a flag or other banner; standard

2. a standard-bearer; ensign

[C16: changed from ensign through the influence of ancient¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

an•cient¹

(ˈeɪn ʃənt)

adj.

1. of or in time long past, esp. before the end of the Western Roman Empire A.D. 476.

2. dating from a remote period: ancient rocks.

3. very old; aged.

4. old in wisdom and experience.

5. old-fashioned or antique.

n.

6. a person who lived in ancient times.

7. the ancients,

a. the civilized peoples or cultures of antiquity, as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and Egyptians.

b. the writers, artists, and philosophers of ancient times, esp. those of Greece and Rome.

8. a very old or aged person.

[1300–50; Middle English auncien < Anglo-French; Old French ancien < Vulgar Latin *antiānus= Latin ante(ā) before (see ante-) + -ānus -an¹]

an′cient•ness, n.

an•cient²

(ˈeɪn ʃənt)

n. Obs.

1. the bearer of a flag.

2. a flag, banner, or standard; ensign.

[1545–55; variant of ensign]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	ancient - a very old person       antediluvian golden ager, old person, oldster, senior citizen - an elderly person
	2.	ancient - a person who lived in ancient times individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do"
Adj.	1.	ancient - 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" past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year"
	2.	ancient - very old; "an ancient mariner"   old - (used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age; "his mother is very old"; "a ripe old age"; "how old are you?"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

ancient

adjective

1. classical, old, former, past, early, bygone, primordial, primeval, olden They believed ancient Greece and Rome were vital sources of learning.

2. very old, early, aged, antique, obsolete, archaic, age-old, bygone, antiquated, hoary, olden, superannuated, antediluvian, timeworn, old as the hills ancient rites

3. old-fashioned, past, dated, outdated, obsolete, out of date, old-time, archaic, unfashionable, antiquated, outmoded, passé, musty, old hat, behind the times, fusty, superannuated, out of style, obsolescent, square (informal), cobwebby, démodé (French), out of the ark (informal), oldfangled, (old-)fogeyish He produced articles and stories on his ancient typewriter.
old-fashioned new, young, late, the new, recent, current, modern, fresh, novel, with it (informal), up-to-date, state-of-the-art, in vogue, modish, new-fashioned, du jour (French), newfangled, culty

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ancient

adjective

1. Belonging to, existing, or occurring in times long past:

age-old, antediluvian, antiquated, antique, archaic, hoary, old, olden, old-time, timeworn, venerable.

Idioms: old as Methuselah, old as the hills.

2. Of, existing, or occurring in a distant period:

antediluvian, early, primitive.

3. Long past:

high, immemorial.

noun

An elderly person:

elder, golden ager, senior, senior citizen.

Informal: oldster, old-timer.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

عَتيققَديمقَدِيـم

античендревен

starověkýstarýdávnýpradávnýstarobylý

ældgammelfortids-gammeldagsoldtids-

uraltantikhistorischalt

αρχαίος

antiguoviejo

muinainenikivanha

ancienantiqueAntiquitévieux

prastar

antikókoriősi

fornævagamall, mjög gamall

anticoantiquatoarcaicoavomondo antico

大昔の

고대의

senassenovės

antīkssenlaicīgssens

antiekoeroud

eldgammelfortids-gammeldagsoldtids-

starożytnystaryantyczny

antigoantiga

древнийстаринный

staroveký

antičenstarodaven

forntida

โบราณ

eskiçok eski

cổ đại

古代的古老的远古的

ancient

[ˈeɪnʃənt] ADJ

1. (= old, classical) → antiguo
ancient Greek → griego m antiguo
ancient history → historia f antigua
that's ancient history! → ¡eso pertenece a la historia!
in ancient days → en la antigüedad, hace muchísimo tiempo
ancient monument (Brit) → monumento m histórico
ancient Rome → la Roma antigua
remains of ancient times → restos mpl de la antigüedad

2. [person] → viejo, anciano; [clothing, object] → antiquísimo, de los tiempos de Maricastaña
we went in his ancient car → fuimos en su antiquísimo coche
he's getting pretty ancient → va para viejo OLD

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ancient

[ˈeɪnʃənt] adj

(from Antiquity) [Greece, Greek, Egypt, Rome] → antique
ancient Greece → la Grèce antique

(= very old) [tradition, building, woodland] → ancien(ne) ancient monument

(= aged, antiquated) [person] → vieux(vieille), vieil before masc noun beginning with a vowel or before mute h; [object, car] → antiqueancient history n

(Greek and Roman) → histoire f ancienne

(fig) → histoire f ancienne
That's ancient history! → C'est de l'histoire ancienne!ancient monument n → monument m historique

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ancient

adj

→ alt; in ancient times → im Altertum; (Greek, Roman also) → in der Antike; ancient Rome → das alte Rom; the ancient Romans → die alten Römer; ancient monument (Brit) → historisches Denkmal, historische Stätte

(inf) person, clothes etc → uralt

n the ancients → die Völker or Menschen des Altertums or im Altertum; (= writers) → die Schriftsteller des Altertums

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ancient

[ˈeɪnʃ/ənt] adj (old) (classical) → antico/a (fam) (person) → decrepito/a; (object) → vecchio/a come il cucco
ancient monument → monumento storico
ancient Rome → l'antica Roma

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ancient

(ˈeinʃənt) adjective

1. relating to times long ago, especially before the collapse of Rome. ancient history. prehistories قَديم античен antigo starověký, pradávný alt fortids-; oldtids- αρχαίοςantiguo muistne, antiikne باستانی؛ کهن muinais- ancienעתיק, קדום प्राचीन stari ókori kuno forn antico 古代の 먼 옛날의 senovės sens; antīks purba oudfortids-, oldtids-starożytny زوړ، پخوانی ، قدیمی antigo antic древний; античный staroveký starodaven antički forntida โบราณกาล eski 古代的 античний اگلے زمانے کا ، پرانا cổ đại 古代的

2. very old. an ancient sweater. antiek, oud عَتيق много стар velho starý, staromódní uralt ældgammel; gammeldags παμπάλαιοςviejo igivana کهنه muinainen très vieux יָשַן מְאֹד , יָשַן מְאוֹד प्राचीन prastari ősi tua sekali ævagamall, mjög gamall vecchio とても古い 구식의 senas senlaicīgs lama oudeldgammel, gammeldagsstarodawny, antyczny زوړ velho foarte vechi старинный; допотопный staromódny zelo star prastari gammal เก่า çok eski 古老的 стародавній; старовинний قدیم ، دیرینہ cổ 古老的

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

ancient

→ قَدِيـم starověký/starobylý oldtids- uralt αρχαίος antiguo muinainen ancien prastar antico 大昔の 고대의 antiek eldgammel starożytny antigo древний forntida โบราณ eski cổ đại 远古的

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009