| 1 | Middle English | auncestre | — |
| 2 | Old French | ancessor | ancestor |
| 3 | Latin | antecessor | predecessor; vanguard, scout |
| 4 | Latin | ante | before, in front, forwards; before; before,... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | κλίσις | bending, inclination; a lying down; a place for... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -σῐς | "suffix forming nouns" |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -τις | Earlier form of -σις , retained after dentals δ,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |