forebear

noun

fore·​bear ˈfȯr-ˌber How to pronounce forebear (audio)
variants or less commonly forbear
: 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 Today’s rape deniers are no better than their forebears. Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024 The project of applying modern standards to our forebears to aggrandize ourselves has also taken aim at some of the giants of Western political history. Daniel Foster, National Review, 30 Nov. 2023 Hassan’s son Mohammed VI has followed in his forebears’ footsteps. Theo Zenou, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024 It was always taught in a historical sense—the book-burning Nazis, the war propaganda, McCarthyism—something our professional forebears had battled before and firmly defeated. Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 27 Feb. 2024 In the process, Carter became a forebear to later female country artists who blended work in music, film, and television — including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and Carrie Underwood. Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 16 Jan. 2024 An extinct group of rodent-like animals called multituberculates was particularly prosperous, as were the forebears of modern marsupials. Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024 One of the forebears of the horror genre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre built the sadistic road map followed by many modern films — the Saw and Hostel franchises among them. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 19 Dec. 2023 And despite the outlier success of founders like Wang and his millennial, Gen X, and Boomer forebears—Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Bill Gates—research from Harvard University suggests the average age of successful startup founders is 45. Trey Williams, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'forebear.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English (Scots), from fore- + -bear (from been to be)

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of forebear was in the 15th century

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Dictionary Entries Near forebear

Cite this Entry

“Forebear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forebear. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

forebear

noun
fore·​bear
variants also forbear
ˈfōr-ˌba(ə)r,
ˈfȯr-,
-ˌbe(ə)r

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