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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.

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.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun1.ancients - people who lived in times long past (especially during the historical period before the fall of the Roman Empire in western Europe)ancients - people who lived in times long past (especially during the historical period before the fall of the Roman Empire in western Europe)

plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

people - (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; "old people"; "there were at least 200 people in the audience"

Roman Empire - an empire established by Augustus in 27 BC and divided in AD 395 into the Western Roman Empire and the eastern or Byzantine Empire; at its peak lands in Europe and Africa and Asia were ruled by ancient Rome

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

Translations

ancients

[ˈeɪnʃənts] NPL the ancients → los antiguos

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

References in classic literature ?

the ancients met by recognizing a divinity which subjected the nations to the will of a chosen man, and guided the will of that chosen man so as to accomplish ends that were predestined.

"There's a part of the United States of North America that used to be known to the ancients as New England," he replied.

"I haven't the least idea, but it must lead to something, or the ancients who made this revolving stone door wouldn't have taken such care to block the passage."

And here, again, we may find a parallel with the ancients. He goes beyond facts in his scepticism, as they did in their idealism.

"Certainly," said I, "this sea is quoted as one of the worst, and in the time of the ancients, if I am not mistaken, its reputation was detestable."

A blear-eyed ancient stood before him, balancing on a single crutch.

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.

The more ancient any form is, the more, as a general rule, it differs from living forms.

It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three.

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.

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.

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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