Full Idea
x bears to y the 'ancestral' of the relation R just if either x bears R to y, or x bears R to some w that bears R to y, or x bears R to some w that bears R to some z that bears R to y, or.....
Gist of Idea
An ancestral relation is either direct or transitively indirect
Source
David Wiggins (Substance [1995], 4.10.1)
Book Reference
'Philosophy: a Guide Through the Subject', ed/tr. Grayling,A.C. [OUP 1995], p.231
A Reaction
A concept invented by Frege (1879).