Also 6 auncestrese. [f. ANCESTOR + -ESS; of Eng. formation, there being no analogous word in Fr.] A female ancestor.
1580. T. Norton, in Wright, Q. Eliz. Orig. Lett. (1838), II. 124. An Englishe treatise … wherein her Majestie’s auncestrese is termed base in contempt.
1826. Scott, Woodst. (1832), I. xii. 227. What if the soul of an ancestress of hers and yours were now addressing you?
1874. Helps, Soc. Press., ix. 132. The ladies of the present day … suffer much more waste in their households, than their ancestresses did.
