From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Ancestry \An"ces*try\, n. [Cf. OF. ancesserie. See Ancestor.]
1. Condition as to ancestors; ancestral lineage; hence, birth
or honorable descent.
[1913 Webster]
Title and ancestry render a good man more
illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
2. A series of ancestors or progenitors; lineage, or those
who compose the line of natural descent.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
ancestry
n 1: the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has
been warriors" [syn: lineage, line, line of descent,
descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree,
ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock]
2: inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline
[syn: ancestry, lineage, derivation, filiation]