ancient


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

an·cient 2

 (ān′shənt)
n.
1. Archaic An ensign; a flag.
2. Obsolete A flag-bearer or lieutenant.
[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

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.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.ancient - a very old personancient - 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 Empireancient - 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 oldancient - 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-
muinainenikivanha
prastar
antikókoriősi
fornævagamall, mjög gamall
大昔の
고대의
senassenovės
antīkssenlaicīgssens
antiekoeroud
staroveký
antičenstarodaven
forntida
โบราณ
eskiçok eski
cổ đại

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.
2. very old. an ancient sweater.
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
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References in classic literature ?
A blear-eyed ancient stood before him, balancing on a single crutch.
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One of these hills is the ancient Mount of Blessings and the other the Mount of Curses and wise men who seek for fulfillments of prophecy think they find here a wonder of this kind--to wit, that the Mount of Blessings is strangely fertile and its mate as strangely unproductive.
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The ancient historians all employed one and the same method to describe and seize the apparently elusive- the life of a people.
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The more ancient any form is, the more, as a general rule, it differs from living forms.
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It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three.
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A part of the United States of North America and all of the Federated States of Canada once belonged to this ancient England."
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Tied or trussed like fowls or pigs, they were tumbled on the hard- packed earthen floor, beneath which, shallowly buried, lay the remains of ancient chiefs, while, overhead, in wrappings of grass mats, swung all that was left of several of Bashti's immediate predecessors, his father latest among them and so swinging for two full generations.
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There remains to-day but a very imperceptible vestige of the Place de Grève, such as it existed then; it consists in the charming little turret, which occupies the angle north of the Place, and which, already enshrouded in the ignoble plaster which fills with paste the delicate lines of its sculpture, would soon have disappeared, perhaps submerged by that flood of new houses which so rapidly devours all the ancient façades of Paris.
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Come, we will walk in the ancient streets--streets where no feet but ours have trod in many centuries.
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The stream of ancient philosophy in the Alexandrian and Roman times widens into a lake or sea, and then disappears underground to reappear after many ages in a distant land.
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As for nobility in particular persons; it is a reverend thing, to see an ancient castle or building, not in decay; or to see a fair timber tree, sound and perfect.
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They did, however, survive as a people, and some of the ancient Saxon families possessed wealth and power, although they were exceptions to the humble condition of the race in general.
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