ancient
- Belonging to a time very long ago, often thousands of years in the past.
- Informally, something that feels very old or outdated.
In a sentence
- The archaeologists uncovered the ruins of an ancient city buried beneath the desert sand.
- My grandfather jokingly called his old flip phone an ancient relic.
Usage note. In academic contexts, 'ancient' typically refers to history before roughly 500 CE; for more recent centuries, prefer 'old' or 'historical.'
Where it comes from
English ancient · entered English 14th c.
From Old French 'ancien,' derived from Vulgar Latin 'anteanus,' meaning 'before' or 'of former times,' based on Latin 'ante' (before). It entered English in the 14th century. Historians and scholars typically use it to refer to civilizations before the fall of Rome (476 CE).