In English law . Gentlemen of the inns of court and chancery. In Gray’s Inn the society consists of benchers, ancients, barristers, and students under the bar; and here the ancients are of the oldest barristers. In the Middle Temple, those who had passed their readings used to he termed “ancients.” The Inns of Chancery consist of ancients and students or clerks: from the ancients a principal or treasurer is chosen yearly. Wharton.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
