​x
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<style>
.ancestors *
{ 
    display: block;
    border: 2px solid lightgrey;
    color: lightgrey;
    padding: 5px;
    margin: 15px;
}
</style>
<script src="http://libs.baidu.com/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js">
</script>
<script>
$(document).ready(function(){
  $("span").parentsUntil("div").css({"color":"red","border":"2px solid red"});
});
</script>
</head>
​
<body class="ancestors"> body (曾曾祖父元素)
  <div style="width:500px;">div (曾祖父元素)
    <ul>ul (祖父元素)  
      <li>li (父元素)
        <span>span</span>
      </li>
    </ul>   
  </div>
</body>
​
</html>