Etymologically
Log in

ancient

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈeɪn.ʃənt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English auncien,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French ancien (“old, long-standing, ancient”),[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *anteānus (“from before”),[2][3] from Latin ante “before” and -ānus,[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *anti (“against”), from the root *ant- “front, forehead”.[2] The final t was added in the 15th century,[3][4] by mistaken association with adjectives in -ant and -ent,[3] as also happened in pageant, pheasant and tyrant.[4][2] It is related to ante- and antique.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Existing in times long past: 1366 in the OED;[6] Etymonline has the late 14th century, of persons, “very old”,[2] and Barnhart about 1390, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.[3]

Semantic evolution

Of things, “having lasted from a remote period”, it is from about 1400,[2] and “existing in times long past” from the early 15th century.[2] In history it means belonging to the period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, contrasted with medieval and modern (about 1600),[2] 1605 in the OED.[6] In English law it meant “from before the Norman Conquest”.[2] The noun, “a very old person”, is from the late 14th century,[2] and the ancients, the classical peoples or authors, is 16th-century.[5][7] Johnson distinguished ancient from old, which relates to how long a thing has lasted.[8]

Timeline

  • 1366 – of times long past.[6]
  • late 14th century – very old, of persons.[2]
  • c. 1400 – of long standing.[2]
  • 1502 – noun.[5]
  • c. 1600 – before the fall of Rome.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Very old; of great age.
  2. Of times long past, especially before the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476).
  3. Old-fashioned; antiquated.
  4. Having the qualities of age or long use; venerable.

Noun

  1. A very old person.
  2. A person who lived in ancient times.
  3. The ancients, the peoples or authors of classical antiquity.

Word family

  • anciently
  • ancientness
  • ancientry
  • ancient history
  • antic
  • antique
  • antiquary
  • antiquarian
  • antiquated
  • antiquity
  • ante-
  • ensign
  • anterior

Usage notes

The archaic ancient, “a flag” and “a standard-bearer”, as in Shakespeare's Ancient Pistol, is a corruption of ensign, by association with this word (1554).[6][2][4][5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.