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
Skye and Billy’s progenitors, by contrast, are revealed to have been free-spirited and independent-minded people who simply left out lots of their complicated, peripatetic story.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
This is probably telling us that, like 2I/Borisov, 3I/ATLAS formed much farther out in its progenitor star system than our solar system comets did.
—Darryl Seligman, Space.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai made the breakthrough after first developing a technique to isolate progenitor cells from the heart.
—New Atlas, 4 Dec. 2025
Alongside partner Kevin McKillop, the titular Moose in early ’90s shoegaze progenitor group of the same name, Berenyi sketched out dream-pop reductions aided by drum machine.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for progenitor
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
This is probably telling us that, like 2I/Borisov, 3I/ATLAS formed much farther out in its progenitor star system than our solar system comets did.
—Darryl Seligman, Space.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai made the breakthrough after first developing a technique to isolate progenitor cells from the heart.
—New Atlas, 4 Dec. 2025
Alongside partner Kevin McKillop, the titular Moose in early ’90s shoegaze progenitor group of the same name, Berenyi sketched out dream-pop reductions aided by drum machine.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for progenitor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for progenitor
Noun
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Staying on-site also puts guests inside a 19th-century estate tied to the Leacock family, British ancestors of the current owners, who helped pioneer Madeira wine’s trade with England and remained among the island’s major producers until 1925.—
Lauren Mowery,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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The researchers also said that the paintings were very likely created by people closely linked to the ancestors of Indigenous Australians.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Her grandfather, Ub, was a legendary animator instrumental in the development of Mickey Mouse.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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King grew up at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his father and grandfather served as pastors, and his mother played the organ.—
Daniel Wilkerson,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There’s an absent father and a clueless, neglectful mother but the five Gilbert children — Lydia, Hugo, Annabel, Jeremy and Rosalind — are essentially raising themselves in an English country house of secret passages and worrying infestations.—
Chris Hewitt,
Boston Herald,
22 Jan. 2026
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Then in the afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Ramos was taken with his father while in their driveway after just arriving home from his preschool classroom.—
Reg Chapman,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Progenitor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/progenitor. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026.
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