English · Word Candidate

ancient

/ˈeɪn.ʃənt/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: ancienter · ancientest · ancientmost · ancients

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

đã tồn tại từ thời xa xưa

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Adjective

Examples

an ancient city

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

tồn tại hoặc xảy ra trong quá khứ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Adjective

Examples

an ancient author

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 3

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A person who is very old.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

người rất già

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Examples

Hetty and Mrs. Piper watched them with a lynx-eyed understanding and before the ancient was well upon his road his way was blocked by Hetty.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 4

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A person who lived in ancient times.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

người sống trong thời cổ đại

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Examples

What is ancient for us was in its own time a reworking of what was ancient for the ancients.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “ancient” mean?

Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old.

Is “ancient” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.