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Crossword clues for ancient

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ancient
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a historic/ancient town
▪ Visitors can go on a tour of this historic town.
a traditional/ancient craft
▪ The Navajo Indians sell their jewellery and other traditional crafts.
an ancient city
▪ the ancient city of Jerusalem
an ancient site
▪ The organization maintains and restores ancient sites, castles, monuments etc.
an old/ancient legend
▪ You will have heard the old legend about how the rocks were formed.
an old/ancient tradition
▪ In rural Wales, the old traditions persisted.
an old/ancient/age-old custom
▪ Here on the island, many of the old customs have survived.
an old/ancient/long-standing grudge
▪ He said they should celebrate their achievements, not nurse old grudges.
ancient civilization (=a very old one)
▪ The achievements of Egypt's ancient civilization were remarkable.
ancient magic
▪ The place seemed full of shadows and ancient magic.
Ancient monuments
Ancient monuments are protected by law.
early/ancient history
▪ He had studied ancient Roman history.
traditional/ancient culture
▪ The people have a traditional culture which has hardly changed in 500 years.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
very
▪ The basilica beside the columns is very ancient, one of the oldest in the city, founded in the fourth-century.
▪ This is certainly the product of very ancient traditions.
▪ She is, was I mean, a very ancient saint.
▪ Fortunately, some sediments, by rare good fortune, survive from very ancient times with little or no loss of legibility.
▪ These taboos against women as polluting to male sacred space are very ancient.
▪ Descended from the Carolingian counts and vicomtes, they possessed and exercised very ancient rights of jurisdiction over their lordships.
▪ She had the translucent skin of the very ancient and I would have guessed her age at not far from ninety.
▪ Hence we have the Law of Similars which is very ancient and predates the formulation of Homoeopathy in the eighteenth century.
■ NOUN
art
▪ Although not formally trained as a historian of ancient art, Ortiz's scholarship is widely respected.
▪ Was not the Samhailt, the ancient art of hearing the thoughts of others, bestowed on the Royal Line long ago?
▪ It is right that they should be given a place of honour in the history of ancient art.
▪ And rooted in history ... the ancient art of coppicing.
▪ A chance to try your hand at the ancient art of Drystone Walling.
▪ It is also opening up a rare advance in the ancient art of making metal alloys.
city
▪ Nottingham is an ancient city with a Norman castle and an excellent variety of shops, theatre and other modern amenities.
▪ Every day, the newspapers carried photos of tracer bullets criss-crossing the skies above ancient cities.
▪ Here, deep beneath the ancient City, 35 million bottles of Champagne Veuve Cliquot are slowly maturing.
▪ Participants will visit the Isle of Capri, then move on to Mount Vesuvio and the ancient cities that volcano destroyed.
▪ We visited the ancient city of Petra and rode camels.
▪ It was there that ancient empires and flourishing ancient cities were to be found.
▪ There are trips to the ancient cities of Vienna and Innsbruck.
▪ Walking amongst the ruins of an ancient city, for example, it is impossible to gain an overall impression of the layout.
custom
▪ Killing has now become more of a sport, or an adherence to an ancient custom.
▪ Indubitable evidences of an ancient custom of ritual regicide have been found over a great portion of the globe.
▪ And in the village of Marlott, following ancient custom, the young women gathered to dance every holiday.
▪ She sounded really respectful and seemed to have the greatest reverence for that ancient custom.
▪ According to ancient custom it would be possible for Sarah as wife to claim the child as her own.
forest
▪ The machinery of the ancient Forest courts was found at this time to be cumbrous and ineffective.
▪ There are also plans to log 57,500 hectares of ancient forest, containing trees of up to 600 years old.
▪ He vigorously applied Charles's policy of raising money by reviving the ancient Forest administration.
▪ Since this left them without fuel, they began to cut wood from the ancient forests.
▪ The purposes and administration of these ancient forests have of course changed fundamentally.
▪ Locked still in ancient forest dreams, they stand at significant points in the landscape.
▪ The decline of the dormouse has mirrored the loss of ancient forests.
history
▪ Its very imperfection is powerful testimony of its ancient history, a history of step-by-step change rather than of deliberate design.
▪ But my tale of ancient history was less than a generation old.
▪ For one thing, this is not ancient history.
▪ It has been fashionable in the last twenty years to suggest that there was in ancient history a utopian matriarchy.
▪ The world of Lowry's north seems to be ancient history.
▪ That, too, seemed like ancient history now.
▪ He was very fond of ancient histories, stories and epics of earlier times and heroes.
▪ He was so beautiful in those days - listen to me, those days, talking like it was all ancient history.
monument
▪ With such ancient remains, the first need is to accord them the same protection as other ancient monuments.
▪ Approximately 100,000 cars clog the narrow streets each day and exhaust gases are eroding the city's ancient monuments.
▪ Not only have UFOs nothing to do with ley lines, they have nothing to do with ancient monuments or geology.
▪ The camera monitoring began last September in an attempt to safeguard the ancient monument.
▪ It is far more important than any particular beetle or bird or ancient monument.
▪ There are many castles, churches, abbeys and ancient monuments and public gardens to visit.
site
▪ He thinks that the ancient sites were locations where altered states of consciousness could more readily occur.
▪ Here, like to many other ancient sites mentioned above, there is a provocative stillness.
▪ He started to plot lines of ancient sites and quickly got a feel for those which cropped up most frequently.
▪ They often fought each other and attacked humans until slain by a brave hero, frequently at an ancient site.
▪ Easily Accessible: Dartmoor, with its woods, tors and ancient sites, and the long coastal path provide numerous walks.
▪ Local, civil, and military personnel patrol or enclose ancient sites.
▪ Lines of enquiry suggested themselves from reported material which had accumulated over the years on possible energy effects at ancient sites.
▪ The club had field meetings, following leys and visiting ancient sites, a member who knew the area acting as leader.
times
▪ Since ancient times people have disputed the actions taken by their neighbours.
▪ But the methods and theory are the same as in ancient times, he said.
▪ Since ancient times, the rowan tree has been considered a scourge to witches.
▪ Only the island of Bali preserved, alongside its own traditions, the Brahman heritage of those ancient times.
▪ These old Lincolnshire farmhouses, especially the derelict ones, tell a fascinating story of farming life in more ancient times.
▪ Spirituality does not exist only in ancient times, or in books.
▪ Hydrogen sulphide was probably a relatively rare commodity, even in ancient times.
▪ Fortunately, some sediments, by rare good fortune, survive from very ancient times with little or no loss of legibility.
town
▪ The ancient town of Bridgwater, astride the River Parrett, is an ideal touring centre.
▪ Half an hour's drive away, Bury St Edmunds is a beautiful ancient town with an abbey and clock museum.
▪ The beauty of this ancient town is that told and new have be carefully mixed.
▪ The region boasts many ancient towns of interest and historic cities whose architecture reveals the splendours of the past.
▪ Cobalt joined the coast road and they roared along the ramparts of the ancient town.
▪ Crediton, 8 miles away, is an ancient town, once known for its wool industry now for its cider making.
▪ Eva Hendrix started to chatter in her persuasive voice while the uniformed chauffeur drove them into the ancient town of Freiburg.
▪ Ruth loved the ancient town of Pollensa with its quaint narrow streets and low red stone houses.
tradition
▪ One may on the other hand consider that the ancient traditions and methods of training for the Bar are worthy of preservation.
▪ At the heart of each is an ancient tradition of devotion to a statue of the Black Virgin.
▪ It had been a democratic country and had ancient traditions of learning and libertarianism.
▪ This is certainly the product of very ancient traditions.
▪ Eventually the ancient traditions began to dilute the ideology.
woodland
▪ Some of the trees in this ancient woodland have been here for more than 300 years.
▪ The loss of ancient woodland now means they're confined to the southern counties and Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
▪ Of the remaining ancient woodland, over 80 percent consists of small copses of less than 50 acres.
▪ Hazel catkins Witches' broom Bluebells are indicators of ancient woodland.
▪ Since World War 11, over half of Britain's ancient woodland has been destroyed.
world
▪ His conquests transformed the ancient world and ushered in the Hellenistic age of great monarchies.
▪ The law of the survival of the fitted governed not only primitive tribes, but the civilized cultures of the ancient world.
▪ It was not until the Ptolemaic period that its price fell to that obtaining elsewhere in the ancient world.
▪ The Olympics were not the only games in the ancient world.
▪ So many relics of the ancient world.
▪ In the ancient world, the belief was that each person was represented by a star.
▪ Touch-operated computer terminals are placed at strategic points allowing us, quite literally, to have the ancient world at our fingertips.
▪ What he most wanted to know about was not the ancient world but modern politics with its historical background.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
that's (past/ancient) history
▪ But that's history now the children are back in the classroom.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ an ancient Greek vase
▪ Doc drives an ancient Ford convertible.
▪ He's not just old, he's ancient.
▪ Mum looks absolutely ancient in this picture.
▪ Rome is famous for its ancient monuments.
▪ The ancient Chinese believed that we are born with a finite amount of energy in our bodies called chi.
▪ the pyramids of ancient Egypt
▪ This refrigerator is ancient -- it's time we bought a new one.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Above the lip of the gorge he found traces of that ancient river bank.
▪ Here are some recent piano releases for keyboards, solo and duo, ancient and modern.
▪ His conquests transformed the ancient world and ushered in the Hellenistic age of great monarchies.
▪ I prefer the more austere skeletons of the corals that live frugal, ancient lives in the deep sea.
▪ The Great Forest is an ancient, vast and very varied woodland.
▪ The Samaritans have managed to keep only a few ancient texts.
▪ This is a wonderful piece of ancient machinery of indeterminate age, and consists of a crank-driven triple piston pump.
▪ Those assembled along the hill lines are keeping alive one of the world's most ancient and wide spread fertility rites.
II.noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ According to the ancients, seven planets circle the sun, hence the seven dwarfs.
▪ Among the Copernicans there was exhilaration at the thought that man, in his astronomical understanding, had now surpassed the ancients.
▪ The ancients staged mock battles to parallel the tempests in nature and reduce their fear of gods who warred across the sky.
▪ The best fuel of the ancients was wood.
▪ The comets that streaked the skies and scared the ancients were powered by Fenna's breath.
▪ To even the earliest Western visitors, the odd, boxy letters evoked the ancients.
▪ Was she, he wondered, trying to make another fire in the fashion of the ancients?
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ancient

Ancient \An"cient\, n. [Corrupted from ensign.]

  1. An ensign or flag. [Obs.]

    More dishonorable ragged than an old-faced ancient.
    --Shak.

  2. The bearer of a flag; an ensign. [Obs.]

    This is Othello's ancient, as I take it.
    --Shak.

Ancient

Ancient \An"cient\, a. [OE. auncien, F. ancien, LL. antianus, fr. L. ante before. See Ante-, pref.]

  1. Old; that happened or existed in former times, usually at a great distance of time; belonging to times long past; specifically applied to the times before the fall of the Roman empire; -- opposed to modern; as, ancient authors, literature, history; ancient days.

    Witness those ancient empires of the earth.
    --Milton.

    Gildas Albanius . . . much ancienter than his namesake surnamed the Wise.
    --Fuller.

  2. Old; that has been of long duration; of long standing; of great age; as, an ancient forest; an ancient castle. ``Our ancient bickerings.''
    --Shak.

    Remove not the ancient landmarks, which thy fathers have set.
    --Prov. xxii. 28.

    An ancient man, strangely habited, asked for quarters.
    --Scott.

  3. Known for a long time, or from early times; -- opposed to recent or new; as, the ancient continent.

    A friend, perhaps, or an ancient acquaintance.
    --Barrow.

  4. Dignified, like an aged man; magisterial; venerable.

    He wrought but some few hours of the day, and then would he seem very grave and ancient.
    --Holland.

  5. Experienced; versed. [Obs.]

    Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm.
    --Berners.

  6. Former; sometime. [Obs.]

    They mourned their ancient leader lost.
    --Pope.

    Ancient demesne (Eng. Law), a tenure by which all manors belonging to the crown, in the reign of William the Conqueror, were held. The numbers, names, etc., of these were all entered in a book called Domesday Book.

    Ancient lights (Law), windows and other openings which have been enjoined without molestation for more than twenty years. In England, and in some of the United States, they acquire a prescriptive right.

    Syn: Old; primitive; pristine; antique; antiquated; old-fashioned; obsolete.

    Usage: Ancient, Antiquated, Obsolete, Antique, Antic, Old. -- Ancient is opposed to modern, and has antiquity; as, an ancient family, ancient landmarks, ancient institutions, systems of thought, etc. Antiquated describes that which has gone out of use or fashion; as, antiquated furniture, antiquated laws, rules, etc. Obsolete is commonly used, instead of antiquated, in reference to language, customs, etc.; as, an obsolete word or phrase, an obsolete expression. Antique is applied, in present usage, either to that which has come down from the ancients; as, an antique cameo, bust, etc.; or to that which is made to imitate some ancient work of art; as, an antique temple. In the days of Shakespeare, antique was often used for ancient; as, ``an antique song,'' ``an antique Roman;'' and hence, from singularity often attached to what is ancient, it was used in the sense of grotesque; as, ``an oak whose antique root peeps out; '' and hence came our present word antic, denoting grotesque or ridiculous. We usually apply both ancient and old to things subject to gradual decay. We say, an old man, an ancient record; but never, the old stars, an old river or mountain. In general, however, ancient is opposed to modern, and old to new, fresh, or recent. When we speak of a thing that existed formerly, which has ceased to exist, we commonly use ancient; as, ancient republics, ancient heroes; and not old republics, old heroes. But when the thing which began or existed in former times is still in existence, we use either ancient or old; as, ancient statues or paintings, or old statues or paintings; ancient authors, or old authors, meaning books.

Ancient

Ancient \An"cient\, n.

  1. pl. Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns.

  2. An aged man; a patriarch. Hence: A governor; a ruler; a person of influence.

    The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof.
    --Isa. iii. 14.

  3. A senior; an elder; a predecessor. [Obs.]

    Junius and Andronicus . . . in Christianity . . . were his ancients.
    --Hooker.

  4. pl. (Eng. Law) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.

    Council of Ancients (French Hist.), one of the two assemblies composing the legislative bodies in 179


  5. --Brande.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ancient

mid-14c., auncyen, from Old French ancien "old, long-standing, ancient," from Vulgar Latin *anteanus, literally "from before," adjectivization of Latin ante "before, in front of, against" (from PIE *anti "against," locative singular of *ant- "front, forehead;" see ante). The parasitic -t dates from 15c. by influence of words in -ent.\n

\nSpecifically, in history, "belonging to the period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire" (and contrasted with medieval and modern). In English law, "from before the Norman Conquest." Ancient of Days is from Dan. vii:9. Related: Anciently.

ancient

"standard-bearer," 1550s, a corruption of ensign. Archaic, but preserved in Shakespeare's character Aunchient Pistoll in "Henry V."

Wiktionary
ancient

a. Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old. n. 1 A person who is very old. 2 A person who lived in ancient times. 3 (context heraldry archaic English) A flag, banner, standard or ensign. 4 (context UK legal English) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery. 5 (context obsolete English) A senior; an elder; a predecessor.

WordNet
ancient
  1. adj. belonging to times long past especially of the historical period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire; "ancient history"; "ancient civilizations such as those of the Etruscans and Sumerians"; "ancient Greece"

  2. very old; "an ancient mariner"

Gazetteer
Wikipedia
Ancient (disambiguation)

Ancient or ancients may refer to:

  • Anything considered "very old"; see List of time periods, Prehistory, in particular anything from Antiquity. " Ancient monument" may have a legal definition that includes relatively recent structures.
  • Ancient history, in historiography
Ancient (company)

is a video game developer founded on April 1, 1990, and managed by the game music composer Yuzo Koshiro. The company was founded by his mother, Tomo Koshiro, while his sister Ayano Koshiro also works at the company as a character and graphic designer. In addition to developing, planning, and producing games, Ancient (by the way of Yuzo Koshiro) contributes music to other games not directly worked by the company.

Ancient (band)

Ancient is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen, formed in 1992. The band released six full-length albums released by Metal Blade Records to date and a variety of mini-albums, EPs and special releases. Ancient used to have the classic raw black metal sound, similar to Darkthrone's works. Beginning with The Cainian Chronicle, they moved towards a more Nordic/atmospheric black metal sound, akin to Emperor and a cleaner production. After a period of turmoil concerning their line-up, they went on to add gothic-style instruments such as violins, a female vocalist, and synthesizers to their music.

To this day Ancient can be considered as one of the original Norwegian black metal bands that were part of the now famous scene of the early nineties. They were one of the very first Norwegian black metal bands to sign for a semi-major label (Metal Blade Records). There is no evidence of any involvement of Ancient with the infamous occurrences of the Norwegian black metal scene, although they were part of the same scene. Ancient can be considered as a historical black metal act by all standards, whose path took a different course upon their relocation around the world and subsequent exit from the local Norwegian scene.

Ancient (Stargate)

The Ancients (in their own tongue Anquietas) are a fictional humanoid race in the Stargate franchise. They are called by this name in the Milky Way galaxy, and the Ancestors and Lanteans in the Pegasus galaxy. The Ancients are one of two groups of the Alterans; the other being the Ori, the main antagonists in the later seasons of Stargate SG-1. In the Stargate universe, the Ancients are one of the most technologically advanced species known to have existed. The Ancients evolved tens of millions of years ago and reached advanced level of technology long before humans evolved on Earth. They lived in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies prior to their ascension. The Ancients might be best known as the ones who constructed the Stargates; big ring-shaped gates allowing wormhole travel. The Stargates are commonly used by Earth humans, Goa'ulds and Wraiths as seen in the Stargate TV-series to travel and explore Milky Way and Pegasus.

Ancient (album)

Ancient is an album by Japanese new age artist, Kitarō, which was released in 2001.

The album was nominated for 44th Grammy Awards New Age Best Album in 2002.

Usage examples of "ancient".

I felt it advisable to keep my mind wholesomely occupied, for it would not do to brood over the abnormalities of this ancient, blight-shadowed town while I was still within its borders.

The baying was very faint now, and it ceased altogether as I approached the ancient grave I had once violated, and frightened away an abnormally large horde of bats which had been hovering curiously around it.

Archimages have included shielding aborigines who were in danger of being exterminated by hostile humans, and collecting and disposing of dangerous or inappropriate artifacts of the Vanished Ones that turned up in the ancient ruined cities.

Their attachment also to the ancient royal family had been much weakened by their habits of submission to the Danish princes, and by their late election of Harold or their acquiescence in his usurpation.

Besides acquiring by arms such a noble territory in France, besides defending it against continual attempts of the French monarch and all its neighbors, besides exerting many acts of vigor under their present sovereign, they had, about this very time, revived their ancient fame, by the most hazardous exploits, and the moat wonderful successes, in the other extremity of Europe.

I believe you understand the skill and mental acuity it would take to make a discerning decision about such a discovery, since prior knowledge of ancient objects and religions may be too skewed to be of service regarding this matter.

After all, the use of pathogens such as adenovirus and HIV as recombinant vectors was ancient history.

In 1559 Convocation asserted the adherence of the clergy to the ancient faith.

Montanists, who deviated into heresy by their strict and obstinate adherence to the rigor of ancient discipline.

There is no independent data indicating any variation whatever in the methods of the admixture of black or colored inks, which differentiates them from those used in the earliest times of the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews or Chinese.

Notwithstanding these precautions, and his own example, the succession of consuls finally ceased in the thirteenth year of Justinian, whose despotic temper might be gratified by the silent extinction of a title which admonished the Romans of their ancient freedom.

On days of general festivity, it was the custom of the ancients to adorn their doors with lamps and with branches of laurel, and to crown their heads with a garland of flowers.

Petrarch sighs an indignant complaint, that the ancient capital of the world should adorn from her own bowels the slothful luxury of Naples.

The objects of tile Institute were the advancement and propagation of information in Egypt, and the study and publication of all facts relating to the natural history, trade, and antiquities of that ancient country.

These ancient Martians had been a highly cultivated and literary race, but during the vicissitudes of those trying centuries of readjustment to new conditions, not only did their advancement and production cease entirely, but practically all their archives, records, and literature were lost.