rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryancientVery old
adjective / noun

ancient

AYN-shuhnt/ˈeɪnʃənt/

Belonging to the very distant past.

Broken columns and fallen stones mark the site of an ancient temple.

A small cluster of weathered ancient Greek temple ruins: two standing stone columns supporting a broken lintel, with fallen column drums nearby.
Etymology
ancientOld Frenchold, long-standing

Old French ancien meant “old” or “long-standing.” In English, the idea extended from people of great age and things surviving from a remote period to things existing or occurring in the distant past.

In context

Theosophical Society1:50
many of them going all the way back into ancient Greece, which is a very formative time for me in terms of my own spiritual development
Heroes, Apotheosis and the Heroic Path: The World Needs Us to Be Heroes

More examples

  • The book describes how the ancients measured the sky.
  • An ancient family story survives through repeated telling.
  • He still uses an ancient typewriter instead of a computer.

Forms

ancient · ancients

Similar words

old
Does not necessarily imply an extremely distant age.
archaic
Often means no longer in ordinary use rather than simply old.