n. [ OE. ancestre, auncestre, also ancessour; the first forms fr. OF. ancestre, F. ancêtre, fr. the L. nom. antessor one who goes before; the last form fr. OF. ancessor, fr. L. acc. antecessorem, fr. antecedere to go before; ante before + cedere to go. See Cede, and cf. Antecessor. ] 1. One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) An earlier type; a progenitor; as, this fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ancestral. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With regard to ancestors. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by, an ancestor or ancestors; as, an ancestral estate. “Ancestral trees.” Hemans. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. ancesserie. See Ancestor. ] 1. Condition as to ancestors; ancestral lineage; hence, birth or honorable descent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A series of ancestors or progenitors; lineage, or those who compose the line of natural descent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. cestus: cf. OF. ceste. ] A woman's girdle; a cestus. [ R. ] Collins. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A family of invertebrates coextensive with the order Cestida; ctenophores having a greatly flattened and elongated body.
Syn. -- family Cestidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. [ NL., gr. Gr. kesto`s girdle + -oid. ] (Zool.) A subclass of parasitic worms of the class Cestoidea. In some classifications, it is not differentiated from the parent class. [ PJC ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Cestoidea. -- n. One of the Cestoidea. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Cestoidea. -- n. One of the Cestoda. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., gr. Gr. kesto`s girdle + -oid. ] (Zool.) A class of parasitic worms of the phylum Platyhelminthes (formerly Platelminthes) of which the tapeworms are the most common examples. The body is flattened, and usually but not always long, and composed of numerous joints or segments, each of which may contain a complete set of male and female reproductive organs. They have neither mouth nor intestine. See Tapeworm. [ Written also Cestoidea. ]
Syn. -- class Cestoidea, Cestoidea. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the Cestoda. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; a kind of fish. ] (Zool.) A shark of the genus Cestracion, and of related genera. The posterior teeth form a pavement of bony plates for crushing shellfish. Most of the species are extinct. The Port Jackson shark and a similar one found in California are living examples. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Pertaining to, or characteristic of, the genus Cestracion. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖or ‖ } pron. [ Norm. F. ] (Law) He; the one. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cestuy que trust ety>[ norm. F. ], a person who has the equitable and beneficial interest in property, the legal interest in which is vested in a trustee. Wharton. --
Cestuy que use ety>[ Norm. F. ], a person for whose use land, etc., is granted to another. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. caestus, and cestus. ] (Antiq.) A covering for the hands of boxers, made of leather bands, and often loaded with lead or iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. cestus girdle, Gr. &unr_;, lit., stitched, embroidered. ] 1. (Antiq.) A girdle; particularly that of Aphrodite (or Venus) which gave the wearer the power of exciting love. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A genus of Ctenophora. The typical species (Cestus Veneris) is remarkable for its brilliant iridescent colors, and its long, girdlelike form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. inceste, L. incestum unchastity, incest, fr. incestus unchaste; pref. in- not + castus chaste. See Chaste. ] The crime of cohabitation or sexual intercourse between persons related within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law; broadly, sexual relations between closely related persons, usually taken as first cousins or closer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Spiritual incest. (Eccl. Law) (a) The crime of cohabitation committed between persons who have a spiritual alliance by means of baptism or confirmation. (b) The act of a vicar, or other beneficiary, who holds two benefices, the one depending on the collation of the other. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. incestuosus: cf. F. incestueux. ] 1. Guilty of incest; involving, or pertaining to, incest; as, an incestuous person or connection. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ere you reach to this incestuous love,
You must divine and human rights remove. Dryden.

2. resembling incest; between people or groups so closely related as to make such activity improper or unethical; as, an incestuous coziness between the management of the company and its union; an incestuous relationship between the salesman and the purchasing manager. [ PJC ]

-- In*cest"tu*ous*ly, adv. -- In*cest"tu*ous*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]