progenitor

noun

pro·​gen·​i·​tor prō-ˈje-nə-tər 

prə-

1

a

: an ancestor in the direct line : forefather

b

: a biologically ancestral form

2

: precursor, originator

progenitors of socialist ideas

—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

progenitor cells

Synonyms

• ancestor
• father
• forebear
• forbear
• forebearer
• forefather
• grandfather
• primogenitor

Examples of progenitor in a Sentence

the progenitors of modern art

wild cats that were the progenitors of the house cat

Recent Examples on the Web

By 1900, tonkatsu pork cutlet (progenitor of the katsu sando) had been invented at a restaurant called Rengatei in the ultra-modern Ginza district, which also gave rise to omurice (a phonetic portmanteau of omelet and rice). —Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2025

Ghetto house became the progenitor of Chicago’s thriving juke and footwork scenes, and artists including RP Boo and the United Kingdom’s Night Slugs collective have taken to social media to pay tribute to DJ Funk and his lasting impact on their work. —Walden Green, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2025

This version of the Democratic Party, which featured the progenitor of wokeism, Obama himself, as the leading presidential campaign trail surrogate for Harris, was thoroughly rejected in November by the American people. —Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025

By calculating the positions of nearby stellar clusters through time, the researchers identified two main suspects that could have housed the supernova progenitor. —Michael Irving, New Atlas, 2 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English progenitour, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin prōgenitor "individual from whom a person or family is descended, ancestor," agentive derivative of prōgignere "to produce as offspring, bring into being, give rise to" (from prō- pro- entry 2 + gignere "to bring into being, beget, give birth to"), after genitor "father, parent, originator," going back to Indo-European *ǵenh₁- "engender, beget" + *-tor/*-tōr, agent suffix, from which also Greek genétōr "father, begetter, ancestor," Sanskrit janitar-, janitá "father, progenitor" — more at kin entry 1

Note: Alternatively genitor has been explained as a new formation based on genitus, past participle of gignere. The older and still somewhat more attractive view sees genitus as the new formation, based on the perfect genuī or on genitor itself, after the connection with the original verbal adjective (g)nātus (going back to zero-grade *ǵn̥h₁-to-) became weakened.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for progenitor

• senator

Medical Definition

progenitor

noun

pro·​gen·​i·​tor prō-ˈjen-ət-ər, prə- 

1

: an ancestor of an individual in a direct line of descent along which some or all of the ancestral genes could theoretically have passed

2

: a biologically ancestral form