forebear

[fawr-bair, fohr-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR forebear ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Usually forebears. ancestors; forefathers.

RELATED WORDS

forefather, forerunner, progenitor

Nearby words

Also forbear.

Origin of forebear

1425–75; Middle English (Scots), equivalent to fore- fore- + -bear being, variant of beer; see be, -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for forebears

One imagines that the latest pope, a Jesuit, is familiar with the centuries of calumny that have been heaped upon his forebears.
Thank God Pope Francis Is a Jesuit|Jonathan Wright|March 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten the lessons learned by our Victorian forebears.
The Big Idea: How Commerce Spreads Contagion|Mark Harrison|January 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For centuries, the forebears of men and women like Paul Peschkowsky were barred from citizenship and its rights.
An Oscar Winner’s Secret History|Henry Louis Gates, Jr.|October 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST
In that somber room, he knew, had had place whatever was most worthy in the lives of his forebears.
The Valiants of Virginia|Hallie Erminie Rives

When he was much affected he always “degenerated to the language of his forebears of the Emerald Isle,” as he used to say.
The Winning Touchdown|Lester Chadwick
His forebears were Maryland Catholics who had emigrated to Kentucky.
Kentucky in American Letters, v. 1 of 2|John Wilson Townsend
I was not I. I was, in truth, those ten thousand forebears.
The Human Drift|Jack London
Others he knew from instinct, an inheritance from countless generations of his forebears.
The Black Phantom|Leo Edward Miller

British Dictionary definitions for forebears

forebear

forbear

noun

an ancestor; forefather

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for forebears

forebear

see forbear. Related: Forebearance; forebears.