PROGENITOR Synonyms: 37 Similar and Opposite Words

progenitor

noun

prō-ˈje-nə-tər

Definition of progenitor

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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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of progenitor Somewhat surprisingly, the AI progenitor networks, tensor clouds, and evolutionary random forests mostly agreed that WHEEP-3’s advice was helpful, though their explanations for why could not be understood by most humans. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026 Art Bar, Riverwest This list wouldn't be complete without the progenitor of the genre in Milwaukee. — Anya Sesay, jsonline.com, 21 Aug. 2026 Yet that same year, Brynjolfsson got access to GPT-3, a progenitor of ChatGPT. — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 29 June 2026 The ultimate sports podcast The progenitor to the growth of sports podcasts has to be Only A Game. — Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 15 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for progenitor

Recent Examples of Synonyms for progenitor

Noun

According to family history, DaCosta Levy’s family lineage traced to Portugal, where his ancestors had been mariners — almost certainly Sephardic Jews who scattered across the Atlantic world after the Inquisition.

— Zachary Kranc, Sun Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026
Government officials previously said that these 11 families split from a common male-line ancestor some 600 years ago, and are now at least 36 degrees of kinship from Naruhito.

— Chad de Guzman, Time, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of ancestor

Noun

Two-year-old Bo often joins his grandfather to mend fences or can identify crops by sight in the fields, Tia Barrier said of her son.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2026
Or travel back in time to Onwuachi’s family home in Trinidad and Tobago, where his grandfather made buljol saltfish salad.

— Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of grandfather

Noun

My 80-year-old mother and 87-year-old father were singing Hindu prayers to celebrate one of the most important holidays of our faith.

— Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
Lozano Garita is the father of her two youngest children, relatives said.

— Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of father

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profusions

progenitor

progenitors

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“Progenitor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/progenitor. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of progenitor

noun

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