diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index f59af63..18cdc35 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -319,6 +319,35 @@ where
             TrieHard::U256(trie) => TrieIter::U256(trie.prefix_search(prefix)),
         }
     }
+
+    /// Find the closest ancestor to the given key, where an ancestor is defined as the longest
+    /// string present in the trie that appears as a prefix of the given key.
+    ///
+    /// ```
+    /// # use trie_hard::TrieHard;
+    /// let trie = ["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"]
+    ///     .into_iter()
+    ///     .collect::<TrieHard<'_, _>>();
+    ///
+    /// assert_eq!(
+    ///     trie.ancestor("dada").map(|(_, v)| v),
+    ///     Some("dad")
+    /// );
+    /// assert_eq!(
+    ///     trie.ancestor("an").map(|(_, v)| v),
+    ///     None
+    /// );
+    /// ```
+    pub fn ancestor<K: AsRef<[u8]>>(&self, key: K) -> Option<(&[u8], T)> {
+        match self {
+            TrieHard::U8(trie) => trie.ancestor(key),
+            TrieHard::U16(trie) => trie.ancestor(key),
+            TrieHard::U32(trie) => trie.ancestor(key),
+            TrieHard::U64(trie) => trie.ancestor(key),
+            TrieHard::U128(trie) => trie.ancestor(key),
+            TrieHard::U256(trie) => trie.ancestor(key),
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /// Structure used for iterative over the contents of trie
@@ -583,6 +612,71 @@ macro_rules! trie_impls {
 
                 TrieIterSized::new(self, node_index)
             }
+
+            /// Find the closest ancestor to the given key, where an ancestor is defined as the
+            /// longest string present in the trie that appears as a prefix of the given key.
+            ///
+            /// ```
+            /// # use trie_hard::TrieHard;
+            /// let trie = ["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"]
+            ///     .into_iter()
+            ///     .collect::<TrieHard<'_, _>>();
+            ///
+            /// let TrieHard::U8(sized_trie) = trie else {
+            ///     unreachable!()
+            /// };
+            ///
+            /// assert_eq!(
+            ///     sized_trie.ancestor("dada").map(|(_, v)| v),
+            ///     Some("dad")
+            /// );
+            /// assert_eq!(
+            ///     sized_trie.ancestor("an").map(|(_, v)| v),
+            ///     None
+            /// );
+            /// ```
+            pub fn ancestor<K: AsRef<[u8]>>(
+                &self,
+                key: K,
+            ) -> Option<(&[u8], T)> {
+                self.ancestor_recurse(0, key.as_ref(), self.nodes.get(0)?)
+            }
+
+            fn ancestor_recurse(
+                &self,
+                i: usize,
+                key: &[u8],
+                state: &TrieState<'a, T, $int_type>,
+            ) -> Option<(&[u8], T)> {
+                match state {
+                    TrieState::Leaf(k, value) => {
+                        (
+                            k.len() <= key.len()
+                            && k[i..] == key[i..k.len()]
+                        ).then_some((k, *value))
+                    }
+                    TrieState::Search(search) => {
+                        let c = key.get(i)?;
+                        let next_state_index = search.evaluate(*c, self)?;
+                        self.ancestor_recurse(i + 1, key, &self.nodes[next_state_index])
+                    }
+                    TrieState::SearchOrLeaf(k, value, search) => {
+                        // lambda to enable using `?` operator
+                        let search = || {
+                            let c = key.get(i)?;
+                            let next_state_index = search.evaluate(*c, self)?;
+                            self.ancestor_recurse(i + 1, key, &self.nodes[next_state_index])
+                        };
+
+                        search().or_else(|| {
+                            (
+                                k.len() <= key.len()
+                                && k[i..] == key[i..k.len()]
+                            ).then_some((k, *value))
+                        })
+                    }
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         impl<'a, T> TrieHardSized<'a, T, $int_type> where T: 'a + Copy {
@@ -924,4 +1018,30 @@ mod tests {
             .collect::<Vec<_>>();
         assert_eq!(emitted, output);
     }
+
+    #[rstest]
+    #[case(&[], "", None)]
+    #[case(&[""], "", Some(""))]
+    #[case(&["aaa", "a", ""], "", Some(""))]
+    #[case(&["aaa", "a", ""], "a", Some("a"))]
+    #[case(&["aaa", "a", ""], "aa", Some("a"))]
+    #[case(&["aaa", "a", ""], "aab", Some("a"))]
+    #[case(&["aaa", "a", ""], "aaa", Some("aaa"))]
+    #[case(&["aaa", "a", ""], "b", Some(""))]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "d", None)]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "dad", Some("dad"))]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "dada", Some("dad"))]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "do", Some("do"))]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "dot", Some("dot"))]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "dob", Some("do"))]
+    #[case(&["dad", "ant", "and", "dot", "do"], "doto", Some("dot"))]
+    fn test_ancestor(
+        #[case] input: &[&str],
+        #[case] key: &str,
+        #[case] output: Option<&str>,
+    ) {
+        let trie = input.iter().copied().collect::<TrieHard<'_, _>>();
+        let emitted = trie.ancestor(key).map(|(_, v)| v);
+        assert_eq!(emitted, output);
+    }
 }