▪ I. ancient, a. and n.1
(ˈeɪnʃənt)
Forms: 4 auncien, -ian, 4–5 -yen, 5 -yenne, -ienne, -iand, auntceaunt, 5–6 auncyent(e, awncient, -yent, 5–7 auncient, (6 aunchent), 6– antient, ancient.
[a. Fr. ancien (= Pr. ancian, Sp. anciano, It. anziano):—late L. antiān-um for *anteān-um former, previous, f. ante before + -ān-us: see -an. In 15th c. the genuine auncien -an was corrupted to aunciand, auncient, by form-assoc. with ppl. forms in -nd, -nt, which sometimes lost final -t or -d; in the reaction against this, the supposed correct ending was extended also to auncien, as to peasan(t), pheasan(t), tyran(t), etc. The great phonetic advance from auncient (ˈaʊnsjɛnt) to ainshent (ˈeɪnʃənt) is seen also in change, chamber, gauge. The spelling antient was due to form-assoc. with words like patient, mention, previously pacient, mencioun, aided perhaps by reminiscences of antiquus.]
A. adj. I. Referring to date.
1. a. Of or belonging to time past, former, earlier, bygone. arch., exc. when approaching sense 2.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xi. 43 The delycyouse traces of myn auncyent loue. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 248 The Nobles hath he finde For ancient quarrels. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. (1862) 93 Thy antient kindness. 1702 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i. 165 Tyes of ancient Love. 1792 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) III. 347 Congress would take it off your hands, in compliance with an ancient vote of that body. 1793 Ibid. (1859) IV. 54 Profound arguments..entitle him really to his ancient signature. |
† b. Hence, with titles of office or position formerly occupied: sometime, whilom, ex-. Cf. Fr. ancien gouverneur = ex-governor; and old in Old Etonian, old soldier. Obs.
| 1681 G. Vernon Life of Heylin 8 An Ancient colonel and excellent commander in the army of King Charles. Ibid. 26 He had been himself an ancient clerk in the old Convocations. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 344 An ancient alderman of London, who was mayor in 1655. 1718 Pope Iliad ii. 863 They mourn'd their ancient leader lost. |
2. esp. Which existed in, or belonged to, times long past, or early in the world's history; old.
| 1366 Mandeville viii. 93 An Ymage of..old auncyen Werk. 1477 Earl Rivers Dictes 129 If thou can not atteyn to the wysedom of auncient men, at the lest studye ther bookis. 1551 Robinson More's Utop. 165 The olde and auncient cosmographers. 1562 G. Leigh Armorie (1597) Pref. A ij, Out of the holie Scriptures, as of other most antientest Authors. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. (1617) 132 The reuerend simplicitie of ancienter times. 1632 in Shaks. Cent. Praise 190 To raise our auncient Soveraynes from their herse. 1673 Ray Journ. Low Countr. 6 In the most antient times..these places were Firm Land. 1777 Dalrymple Trav. Sp. & Port. xl, Many antient weapons of war. 1836 Macgillivray Humboldt's Trav. xx. 296 Traces of ancient civilisation. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §23. 163, I..traced the action of ancient glaciers. 1877 W. Lytteil Landm. i. v. 42 The grave of Ossian..and those of other Ancient worthies. |
3. a. Specifically applied to the period of history before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In this sense contrasted with modern, and mediæval.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §2 (1873) 28 The ancient authors..began to be read. 1704 Addison Italy Pref., Statuary and Architecture both Ancient and Modern. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will iv. §6. 227 The antient Greek and Roman Philosophers. 1808 Z. M. Pike Exp. Sources Mississippi iii. App. 69 Perfect master of the antient languages. 1846 Ellis Elgin Marbles I. 1 The remains of antient art at Athens. 1875 Scrivener Text of N.T. 3 The decline of ancient literature. |
b. Concerning or relating to ancient times. ancient history: see history n. 3.
| 1595 Robinson (title) A Record of Auncient Histories, intituled in Latine, Gesta Romanorum. 1740 Johnson L.P., Barretier Wks. 1787 IV. 463 Antient or modern geography. c 1850 (title) The Edinburgh Academy's Ancient Geography. |
II. Of length of existence. (Distinguished by Bacon from I.)
4. a. Of early origin or formation, going far back in history, of ancient date.
| 1475 Bk. Noblesse 2 The noble auncient bloode of Troy. 1535 Coverdale Baruch iv. 5 Thou people of God, o thou awncient Israel. 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apocal., The auncientest and noblest title, which the fathers..haue used. 1586 Cogan Haven Health ii. (1612) 20 The Harpe of all instruments is the most auncient. 1653 Holcroft Procopius iv. 124 To them ever the ancienter the things are, the truer they seem. 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. i. (1743) 152 The meeting of Sufferings is one of the ancientest assemblies they have. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 177 §10 The seal of an antient corporation. 1845 Carlyle Cromwell (1871) II. 191 One of the ancientest seats belonging to the Lord of Ormond. 1855 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Hist. ii. 71 Contending for no new-born freedom, but for ancient rights. |
b. ancient lights: see light n. 13.
c. ancient monument: a monument made or set up long ago; spec., a monument or other edifice scheduled as being of historical, architectural, or archæological interest and protected by Act of Parliament from damage or destruction. Also attrib. and transf.
| 1593 (title) Discription..of all the Ancient Monuments, Rites, and Customes..within the Monastical Church of Durham (1842, Surtees Soc.). 1873 House of Commons Papers, Reports from Committees XI. 54 [= 950] A Memorial from the Committee for the Conservation of Ancient Monuments. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 308/1 His [sc. Döbrentei's] great work is the Ancient Monuments of the Magyar Language (Régi Magyar Nyelvemlékek). 1880 C. P. Kains-Jackson Our Ancient Monuments 1 We give below a list of the ancient monuments of the United Kingdom as scheduled in the bill repeatedly introduced into the House of Commons by Sir John Lubbock, Bart, [etc.]. Ibid. 6 Then it [sc. Wayland Smith's Forge] became a relic simply, a ‘monument’ in the sense of the framers of the Ancient Monuments Bill. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 797/1 There are four acts: the Ancient Monuments Protection Acts of 1882, 1900 and 1910, and the Ancient Monuments Protection (Ireland) Act 1892. 1958 Listener 23 Jan. 150/2 The Ancient Monuments Department of the Ministry of Works has set out to preserve what remains. |
5. a. Hence: having existed long, and now, in consequence, possessing the attributes of lengthened existence; long-established; time-worn; hoary.
| 1586 Lupton 1000 Notable Things (1675) 102 [It doth] help the ancient pain of the Head. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. v. §1 These times are the ancient times, when the world is ancient, and not those which we account ancient..by a computation backward from ourselves. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. v. 102 Thy Ancient Malice. 1719 Young Busiris i. i. (1757) 8 This antient city, Memphis the renown'd. 1744 Harris 3 Treat. iii. ii. (1765) 224 An ancient wood. 1769 Robertson Charles V, III. vii. 29 To strengthen its antient attachment to France. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 378 Before the ancient front of All Souls College. |
b. Of old renown, long known to fame.
| 1819 Heber Hymn, From Greenland's.. From many an ancient river, From many a palmy plain. |
6. Of living beings: that has lived many years; aged, old; of great age. arch.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1001 Þe olde auncian wyf heȝest ho sytteȝ. 1475 Caxton Jason 46 Mirmidone yet liueth..but he is moche auncient. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 150 Farewell, auncient Lady. 1598 Stow Surv. xli. 431 Neyther the yong men of the City..nor the auncient persons. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iv. vii. (1651) 168 A young Gentlewoman..was married..to an ancient man against her will. 1682 Lond. Gaz. mdccl/4 An antient Man in the Habit of a Seaman. 1704 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) V. 426 Sir Samuel Astry (being very antient) has resigned his place of clerk. a 1718 Penn Life Wks. 1726 I. 90 This A.M.C. aforesaid, is an Ancient Maid. 1795 Sewel tr. Hist. Quakers I. Pref. 10 Things, which some ancient people had yet remembrance of. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 663 An ancient matron of the Anabaptist persuasion. |
7. Having the experience and wisdom of age, venerable. arch.
| c 1460 Bk. Curtasye in Babees Bk. 323 An naunciande squier, or ellis a knyȝt, Þo towelle down tase by fulle good ryȝt. 1564 Becon Princ. Chr. Relig. (1844) 521 The duty of old women is..to be sober, sage, and ancient. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. i. 75 You seeme a sober, ancient Gentleman by your habit. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. 1 Tim. v. 19 An accusation against a grave ancient Person. 1752 Johnson Rambl. No. 190 ¶6 The precepts of ancient experience. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 238 Henry wished to be ..counselled by the wise and ancient of the kingdom. |
8. Savouring of age, old-fashioned, antique. rare.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iv. iii, I am glad no one was hurt by his ancient humour. 1820 Keats St. Agnes xxxiii, He play'd an ancient ditty, long since mute. |
9. That has been many years in some rank, position, or capacity. (Now commonly replaced by old.)
| 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle iv. xxxiii. (1483) 81 Auncyen trauayled men that ben experte in dedes of armes. 1598 Barret The. Warres v. iii. 180 Respect to be had to graue and ancient souldiers. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. 48 Seuerall of our ancientest seamen..were sea sicke. 1663 Killigrew Parson's Wedd. in Dodsl. (1780) XI. 377 A soldier ancienter than thyself. 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 247 The ancientest and most eminent of the former Bishops. 1807 T. Jefferson Writ. IV. 68 My Dear and Antient Friend. |
10. Comb., as ancient-customed, ancient-looking.
| 1681 Lond. Gaz. mdcxv/4 The antient Customed Inn, known by the name of the White Hart and Antelope. 1848 Dickens Dombey (C.D. ed.) 24 He presently returned with a very ancient-looking bottle. |
III. Law. (See quot.)
| 1607 J. Cowell Interpr. (J.) Ancient tenure is that whereby all the manours belonging to the crown in St. Edward's or William the Conqueror's days, did hold. 1768 Blackstone Comm. II. 99 Antient demesne consists of those lands or manors, which, though now perhaps granted out to private subjects, were actually in the hands of the crown in the time of Edward the confessor, or William the conqueror. |
B. n.1
1. a. One who lived in ancient times. Commonly in pl. the Ancients: esp. the ancient Greeks, Romans, and other civilized nations of antiquity. (Orig. adj. ‘the ancient,’ like ‘the learned.’)
| 1541 Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 F ij b, All the auncyentes apply the sayd suppuratyfe medycynes. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxi. §1 The ancient it may be were too severe. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 2 Neither is there any likelihood that enuie and malignity died and were buried with the ancient. 1665 Manley Grotius's L.-Countr. Wars 287 The famousest Engine of War now used, of whose use, the Antients were utterly ignorant. 1751 Watts Improv. Mind ii. (1801) 21 The doctrines of the antients. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. v. 211 To the Ancients the Nile appeared almost miraculous. |
b. esp. The ancient authors of Greece and Rome; the ancient classics. Hence, an ancient classic.
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 210 In fame it [Sidon] contendeth with Tyrus..and is more celebrated by the Ancient. a 1633 Hales in Shaks. Cent. Praise 198 If Mr. Shakespear had not read the Antients. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iii. iii. (1840) 26 He was deeply read in the ancients. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. §6. 135 The same respectable Ancient [Plutarch] assures us, that, etc. 1777 Sir W. Jones Poems, etc. Pref. 14 We always return to the writings of the ancients. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 222 The only method by which a poet may..reckon on ever becoming an ancient himself. |
2. the Ancient of Days. a. a scriptural title of the Almighty.
| 1560 Bible (Genev.) Dan. vii. 9, I beheld till the thrones were set vp, and the Ancient of dayes did sit. [So 1611; Wyclif elde, Coverdale olde aged.] 1833 Robert Grant in Bickersteth's Christian Psalmody 17 Our Shield and Defender—the Ancient of Days Pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise. |
b. transf. A very old person or thing. jocular.
| 1935 T. E. Lawrence Let. 5 Apr. (1938) 867 I've only ridden the ancient-of-days twice this year. 1937 Kipling Something of Myself i. 10, I was shown an Ancient of Days who, I was told, was the Provost of Oriel. |
3. An old or aged man (or animal); a patriarch.
| 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de Worde) ii. viii. (1506) 107 Those the whyche mocketh with these auncyentes. 1603 Philotus clxviii, Let countenance accord with ȝour gray hairis Ȝe auncients all. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 15 [Beavers] gnaw down trees to build with, and draw them on the bellies of their antients. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1781) VI. ix. 32 Incomparable woman! If I were such an excellent ancient, I would no more wish to be young. 1790 Cowper Odyss. iv. 517 Then, hero, loose the ancient of the deep [Proteus]. 1814 Southey Roderick iii. Wks. IX. 28 A venerable ancient, by his side A comely matron. 1837 Dickens Pickw. (1847) 160/2 ‘My father, sir,’ replied Mr. Weller. ‘How are you, my ancient?’ |
† 4. An ancestor. Obs. rare.
| 1540 R. Hyrde Vives' Instr. Chr. Woman (1592) D vij, The auncient of his stocke is before the making of the Worlde. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 21 Can a man..brag of the Vertues of his auncients, if his owne life be vitious? 1649 Motion to Parl. 6 Our Ancients were Gyants, and we are Dwarfs. |
† 5. A senior, a superior in age; usually with possessive, his ancient. Cf. Fr. son ancien. Obs.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Paraphr. Mark ix. 34 They sawe howe Peter had the preeminence..yet sum of theim were his auncients. 1553–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 767/1 Gower was a great deale his [Chaucer's] ancient. 1628 Mede in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. III. 279 Justice Jones being the ancient on the bench. 1640 Fuller Abel Rediv., Reinolds (1867) II. 220 Reinolds was..bred up in the same college..with Jewel his ancient and R. Hooker his contemporary. 1659 Lestrange Alliance Div. Off. 105 To these evidences out of Jerome and Chrysostom, let me add that of Gregory Nazianzen antient to them both. |
6. As a title of dignity: An ‘Elder.’ arch.
| 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1557. 1299/1 Than gathered there together the prynces of the priestes and the auncientes, into the Palyce of..Caiphas. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 342/1 The wardens, the ancients of the handicrafts. 1611 Bible Jer. xix. 1 Take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the Priestes. 1654 Ussher Annals vi. (1658) 378 Conferring with some of the Ancients of the Town. 1708 New View Lond. II. 480/2 The Vestry..is..composed of the Ancients of the Parish, who have passed Churchwarden. 1769 Home Fatal Discov. iv, I go to meet the ancients of the land, The hoary counsellors. |
7. Law. One of the senior members forming the governing body of the Inns of Court and of Chancery. (More or less Obs. in use.)
| 1563 Act 5 Eliz. i, As well Utter barresters, as Benchers, Readers, Auncients in any house or houses of Court. 1570 R. Ascham Scholem. 62 When he was Auncient in Inne of Courte, certaine yong Ientlemen were brought before him, to be corrected for certaine misorders. 1685 Lond. Gaz. mmx/6 From the Principal, Antients, and the rest of the Gentlemen of the Society of Bernards-Inn, London. 1691 Blount Law Dict., Ancient, In Grey's-Inn the Society consists of Benchers, Ancients, Barrasters, and Students under the Bar. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v, Here [Gray's-inn] the ancients are the elder barristers. 1860 Forster Grand Remonstr. 120 On going into commons at the Temple, he found himself, lad as he was, ‘ancient’ to above two hundred elder Templars. |
▪ II. ancient, n.2 arch.
(ˈeɪnʃənt)
Forms: 6 ancyent, ansyant, ancientt, auncient(e, -chient, 6–7 antesign, 6–8 antient, 7 auncyent, 8 anshent, 6– ancient.
[a corruption of ensign n., early forms of which, like ensyne, enseygne, were confounded with ancien, ancyen, the contemporary forms of ancient, with which they thus became formally identified from 16th to 18th c. Also spelt by pseudo-etymology antesign.]
1. An ensign, standard, or flag: pl. insignia, colours.
| 1554 Chron. Grey Friars 87, I know that theys be Wyettes ancienttes. 1569 Rising in North 105 in Percy Rel. I. 293 Erle Percy there his ancyent spred. 1578 T. N., tr. Conq. W. India 23 The devise of this ensigne or auncient was flames of fire. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxii. 331 When Osyris led his people to Battell, he had diuers Antesignes..as in one a Dog, in another an Ox. 1610 Chesters Triumph Particulars 1, A Man..carying an Auncient of our colours of S. George. 1622 F. Markham Dec. Warre ii. ix. 73 This Ensigne we corruptly call Antient, and I haue seene it written Antesigne. 1629 S'hertogenbosh 48 To let flye all their Ancients as well vpon the gates, as the walles. 1725 De Foe Voyage round World (1840) 34 Hang out a signal, viz., a red ancient, on the mizen-top. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Ancient in the naval armament is the flag or streamer, borne in the stern of a ship. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xv. (1857) 223 Her ancient suspended half-way over the deck. |
2. A standard-bearer, an ‘ensign.’ (The full name was ancient-bearer: see below.)
| 1596 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 120 Welcome, ancient Pistoll! ― Hen. V, iii. vi. 20 (Flu.) Hee is call'd aunchient Pistoll. 1598 Stow Surv. (ed. Strype 1754) II. v. xxxi. 572/2 Their first elected Auntient or Ensign bearer. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xv. 191 To see the flesh of our Ancient as torn as his colours. [1830 James Darnley xxxviii. 170 The banner of their company by their own ancient.] |
3. Comb. † ancient-bearer = prec. sense.
| 1579 Churchw. Acc. St. Marg. Westm. (1797) 19 Paid to the soiers, the ansyant-bearer, and to him that played upon the drome {pstlg}1 7s. 4d. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Alférez, an ancient-bearer, Signifer. 1606 Act 3 Jas. I, v, No Recusant conuict..shall beare any Office or Charge, as Captaine, Lieutenant, Corporall, Sergeant, Ancient-bearer. |