Plural of ascendant; people from whom one is descended, such as parents and grandparents; ancestors or those in positions of power and influence.
From Latin 'ascendens' (rising, climbing), pluralized in English. In genealogy, it refers to ancestors as those 'rising up' in your family tree from the past toward the present.
Your ascendants in genealogy form an exponential growth pattern—while you have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, and 8 great-grandparents, going back just 30 generations would theoretically give you more ancestors than humans who ever lived!
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