A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1513
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Ancestry, n. Also: ancestrye, -tre, ancecestry, anchestry, ancistry; awncestry. [ME. auncestrie (1330), ancestrie, ancistry, etc.] Ancestral origin or lineage. 1375 Barb. i. 44.
To cheys a king … That off awncestry cummyn wer Off kingis 1375 Ib. xvii. 238.
Fiff hundreth men wicht and worthy, That armys bar of ancistry c1420 Wynt. iii. 727.
For to blasowne into were … Armys off thaire awncestry 1456 Hay I. 276/27.
Thair predicessouris, the quhilkis ar of alde tyme and of alde ancestrye c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace vii. 893.
Off nobill blud, and als haill ancestre 1513 Doug. i. Prol. 84.
A lord of renown, Of ancistry nobill and illustir baroun 1513 Ib. vii. i. 70.
Of eldris gret and riall anchestry
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"Ancestry n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/ancestry>
