EnglishMain Dictionary
ancient
Universal Words
adjective
1 belonging to a period of history that is thousands of years in the past:
ancient history / civilization * ancient Greece
2 very old; having existed for a very long time:
an ancient oak tree * ancient monuments * (humorous) He's ancient-he must be at least fifty!
3 (the ancients) noun [pl.] the people who lived in ancient times, especially the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans
anciently adverb (rare):
The area where the market was anciently held (= in ancient times).
