as in ancestor
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
the progenitors of today's Maya once ruled a mighty empire that stretched across much of Central America
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Recent Examples of progenitor
African-American bluegrass guitarist Arnold Schultz was a Kentuckian whose credits include offering bluegrass progenitor Bill Monroe one of his first paying jobs as a musician, playing together at square dances.
—
Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 16 July 2025
Hard rock progenitors Led Zeppelin had the top music documentary in the first half of the year with Becoming Led Zeppelin, which Luminate said helped drive a 23 percent bump in their streaming numbers.
—Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2025
However, none of these methods have, so far, reliably pinpointed the stem cells or progenitors capable of yielding fresh neurons–leaving room for doubt.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 3 July 2025
There is good reason for this since boysenberry’s progenitors include European blackberry, European raspberry, loganberry (a blackberry-raspberry hybrid), and dewberry, a kind of blackberry native to the central and southern United States.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for progenitor
Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 16 July 2025
Hard rock progenitors Led Zeppelin had the top music documentary in the first half of the year with Becoming Led Zeppelin, which Luminate said helped drive a 23 percent bump in their streaming numbers.
—Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2025
However, none of these methods have, so far, reliably pinpointed the stem cells or progenitors capable of yielding fresh neurons–leaving room for doubt.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 3 July 2025
There is good reason for this since boysenberry’s progenitors include European blackberry, European raspberry, loganberry (a blackberry-raspberry hybrid), and dewberry, a kind of blackberry native to the central and southern United States.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for progenitor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for progenitor
Noun
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No offense to landscapes and wildlife painting and portraits of ancestors–Burgess does all of that, too–but here was something different, provocative.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
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Though the efforts of our ancestors were often met with devastating backlash, the truth remains: this is the blueprint.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The fiddle resting on his shoulder belonged to his great, great grandfather and dates to around 1900.—
Frank Langfitt,
NPR,
16 Aug. 2025
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Photos from Kaela Leone's TikTok video of her sister and grandfather meeting for her wedding.—
Maria Morava,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Afraid of Sarah’s father discovering the truth, Sitti and Janna push themselves to the limit, determined to uncover why Sarah vanished.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
25 Aug. 2025
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Sanders transferred to Colorado once his father took over as the head coach of the Buffaloes.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Progenitor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/progenitor. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.
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