ancient

/ˈān(t)-shənt/

Middle English ancien, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *anteanus, from Latin ante before

adjective

  1. having had an existence of many years

  2. of or relating to a remote period, to a time early in history, or to those living in such a period or time; especially : of or relating to the historical period beginning with the earliest known civilizations and extending to the fall of the western Roman Empire in a.d. 476

  3. having the qualities of age or long existence: such as

ancient customs

old ancient venerable antique antiquated archaic obsolete mean having come into existence or use in the more or less distant past. old may apply to either actual or merely relative length of existence. ancient applies to occurrence, existence, or use in or survival from the distant past.

noun

  1. a person who lived in ancient times:

  2. the civilized people of antiquity; especially : those of the classical nations

  3. one of the classical authors

noun

  1. ensign, standard, flag

  2. the bearer of an ensign