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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."
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Examples of forebear in a Sentence
Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 1 Nov. 2024
Chappell Roan represents a brave new generation of artists who aren’t as pliable or agreeable as their pop forebears—less willing to cozy up to political power and a little more aware, independent, and in control of their influence.
—Hazlitt, 23 Oct. 2024
Over a quarter century later, Garza has compiled an online database with 1.1 million names from northeastern Mexico and Texas, and feels no need to distance himself from forebears who were conquistadors or slavers.
—Edward Rueda, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024
Doing so proved attractive to Americans because Spiritualists taught that the afterlife was more joyful than the vision portrayed by their Calvinist forebears, who emphasized punishments for sins by an angry God.
—Elizabeth Garner Masarik / Made By History, TIME, 16 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Forebear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forebear. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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