Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - ancient

 I. adjective  Etymology: Middle English ancien, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *anteanus, from Latin ante before — more at ante-  Date: 14th century  1. having had an existence of many years  2. of or relating to a remote period, to a time early in history, or to those living in such a period or time; especially of or relating to the historical period beginning with the earliest known civilizations and extending to the fall of the western Roman Empire in A.D. 476  3. having the qualities of age or long existence: as  a. venerable  b. old-fashioned, antique  Synonyms: see old  • ~ness noun  II. noun  Date: 1502  1. an aged living being a penniless ~  2. a person who lived in ~ times:  a. plural the civilized people of antiquity; especially those of the classical nations  b. one of the classical authors Plutarch and other ~s  3. an ~ coin  III. noun  Etymology: alteration of ensign  Date: 1554  1. archaic ensign, standard, flag  2. obsolete the bearer of an ensign