Ancestor
Middle English: from Old French ancestre, from Latin antecessor, from antecedere, from ante ‘before’ + cedere ‘go’.
wiktionary
Middle English ancestre, auncestre, ancessour; the first forms from Old French ancestre (modern French ancêtre), from the Latin nominative antecessor one who goes before; the last form from Old French ancessor, from Latin accusative antecessorem, from antecedo(“to go before”); ante(“before”) + cedo(“to go”). See cede, and compare with antecessor.
etymonline
ancestor (n.)
"one from whom a person is descended," c. 1300, ancestre, antecessour, from Old French ancestre, ancessor "ancestor, forebear, forefather" (12c., Modern French ancêtre), from Late Latin antecessor "predecessor," literally "fore-goer," agent noun from past participle stem of Latin antecedere "to precede," from ante "before" (from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + cedere "to go" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). Current form from early 15c. Feminine form ancestress recorded from 1570s.
