forebearer

noun

ˈfȯr-ˌber-ər How to pronounce forebearer (audio)
Definition of forebearernext
as in ancestor
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent villagers who still practice many of the customs of their forebearers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of forebearer Mike Brown said the digital driver license is the forebearer of discriminating against the unvaccinated. — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Feb. 2022 If successful, The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, named in honor of its famous nautical forebearer and known as MAS for short, will be the first such trans-Atlantic voyage by an autonomous vessel. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2021 Quaker Oats retired Aunt Jemima, allowing her real-life forebearer, Nancy Green, to step out of the shadows of a minstrel past. — Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2020 Chickamauga is two lakes upstream from Guntersville and other TVA lakes in Alabama, which likely means the fish or their forebearers passed through Alabama waters and that lots of them could still be there. — Frank Sargeant, al, 22 Jan. 2020 Our generation inherited a healthy ocean from our forebearers. — CNN, 24 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forebearer
  1. ancestor
  2. grandfather
  3. father
Noun
  • According to family history, DaCosta Levy’s family lineage traced to Portugal, where his ancestors had been mariners — almost certainly Sephardic Jews who scattered across the Atlantic world after the Inquisition.
    — Zachary Kranc, Sun Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Government officials previously said that these 11 families split from a common male-line ancestor some 600 years ago, and are now at least 36 degrees of kinship from Naruhito.
    — Chad de Guzman, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Noun
  • His grandparents owned restaurants and his grandfather was one of the first butchers to cut steaks for Morton Steakhouse.
    — Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The designer’s grandfather Mario and his brother Martino opened their luggage and luxury objects store under the Fratelli Prada banner 113 years ago in Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of grandfather
Noun
  • My 80-year-old mother and 87-year-old father were singing Hindu prayers to celebrate one of the most important holidays of our faith.
    — Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Lozano Garita is the father of her two youngest children, relatives said.
    — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of father

Browse Nearby Words

forebear
forebearer
forebearers
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Forebearer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forebearer. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All