forefather
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- forefatherly adjective
Etymology
Origin of forefather
First recorded in 1250–1300, forefather is from the Middle English word forefader. See fore-, father
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s not what our forefathers would have wanted.”
From Los Angeles Times
He was following in the damp footsteps of his forefathers, who started picking wild moss more than 70 years ago.
From BBC
The home, she said, is more than 200 years old and built by her Spanish forefathers, with a tiled courtyard in the center and Moorish accents on the masonry.
From Los Angeles Times
"This younger generation of policy makers are much more transactional than their forefathers, there is greater competition for Saudi investment in the UK," he explained.
From BBC
Although their forefathers were seized from West and Central Africa centuries ago, the bond between African-Americans and their ancestral home has been a lasting one.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
