Crossword Genius

Ancestry of father separated over time (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

parentage

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'ancestry' is the definition.
(I know that ancestry can be written as parentage)

'father separated over time' is the wordplay.
'father separated' becomes 'parent' (I have seen 'A father ' mean 'parent' so perhaps 'father' could also mean 'parent'. I am not sure about the 'separated' bit.).
'over' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, some letters go over others).
'time' becomes 'age' (an age is a period of time).
'parent'+'age'='PARENTAGE'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for parentage that I've seen before include "Ancestry" , "Family origins" , "Extraction, descent" , "Ancestors" , "results from birth" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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