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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."
Synonyms
Examples of forebear in a Sentence
Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 29 Mar. 2024
Both movies have the right transgressive edge, borrowing from better forebears to create a product that entertains without taking itself too seriously.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 Mar. 2024
Among his forebears were the painter and designer Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) and Robert W. de Forest (1848-1931), a president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the early 20th century and the benefactor responsible for the creation of its American wing.
—Randy Kennedy, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2024
When a monster lurches from the thicket in Dragon’s Dogma 2, which arrives on Friday, the game crackles with the cadence of its fighting forebears: the swing of a sword — bang — followed by bone-crunching pow.
—Lewis Gordon, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
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
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
Middle English (Scots), from fore- + -bear (from been to be)
15th century, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Forebear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forebear. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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forebear
noun
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