forebear

noun

fore·bear ˈfȯr-ˌber

variants or less commonly forbear

Synonyms of forebear

: ancestor, forefather

also : precursor

—usually used in plural

His forebears fought in the American Civil War.

Did you know?

Forebear (also spelled, less commonly, as forbear) was first used by our ancestors in the days of Middle English. Fore- means "coming before," just as in forefather, and -bear means "one that is." This -bear is not to be confused with the -bear in the unrelated verb forbear, which comes from Old English beran, meaning "to bear or carry." The -bear in the noun forebear is a combination of be-, from the verb be (or, more specifically, from been, an old dialect variant of be), and -ar, a form of the suffix -er, which we append to verbs to denote one that performs a specified action. In this case the "action" is simply existing or being—in other words, -bear implies one who is a "be-er."

Examples of forebear in a Sentence

His forebears fought in the American Civil War. his forebears came to America on the Mayflower

Recent Examples on the Web

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.

The country’s new leaders could learn from the mistakes of their Islamist forebears and avoid a system of government with slim chances of success. —Marwan Muasher, Foreign Affairs, 21 Feb. 2025 This culminates in a Satanic-possession plot that eschews the pseudo-realism of Longlegs’s detective-thriller forebears. —Beatrice Loayza, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2025 In fact, any home that stores collective memories and honors the lives, spirit, and cultures of one’s forebears qualifies as ancestral. —Mayer Rus, Architectural Digest, 13 Feb. 2025 The problem is that many younger Jews are learning from these works on the internet, not from the yellowing tomes of their forebears. —Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 28 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for forebear