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Definition of forebear
: ancestor, forefather; also : precursor —usually used in plural His forebears fought in the American Civil War.
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forebear was our Word of the Day on 06/17/2011. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of forebear in a Sentence
His forebears fought in the American Civil War.
his forebears came to America on the Mayflower
Recent Examples of forebear from the Web
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Gilbert is neither ethnically nor culturally Greek — his forebears came to America from the British Isles.
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Its forebears are political thinkers from the last century, such as Armin Mohler, Ernst Jünger, and Carl Schmitt, all of whom had controversial ties to the Nazis.
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This creates a fine lineage: each new iteration of the Doom rules builds upon its forebear.
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In 1927, Boeing Air Transport was founded for mail and passenger service, forebear of United Airlines.
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That rhetorical question aside, U.K.’s Mount Kimbie duo are forebears of the genre, couriers of an evolutionary phase shift in electronic music that solders ambient, brain-twisting hooks together into a curious sonic puzzle.
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Like their forebears in the 1960s, today’s students blasted university leaders as slick mouthpieces who cared more about their reputations than about the people in their charge.
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McKenney also wanted to pay tribute to his own forebears who served in the armed forces dating back to the Civil War.
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Now, Kenyans of Indian and Pakistani descent, many of whose forebears helped build the nation and fight colonialism but who have often been secluded from mainstream Kenyan life, are demanding official recognition for the first time.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'forebear'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Forebear (also sometimes spelled "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" (not to be confused with the "-bear" in the unrelated verb "forbear," which comes from Old English beran, meaning "to bear or carry"). The "be-" of "-bear" is from the verb "to be" (or, more specifically, from "been," an old dialect variant of "be"). The "-ar" is 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."
Origin and Etymology of forebear
Middle English (Scots), from fore- + -bear (from been to be)
FOREBEAR Defined for English Language Learners
forebear
playDefinition of forebear for English Language Learners
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: a member of your family in the past
FOREBEAR Defined for Kids
Learn More about forebear
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See words that rhyme with forebear Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for forebear Spanish Central: Translation of forebear Nglish: Translation of forebear for Spanish speakers
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