progenitors

noun

plural of progenitor
as in ancestors
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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Example Sentences

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 progenitors From this spirited competition emerged two progenitors of modern horror, science fiction, and fantasy. — Maria Papadouris, JSTOR Daily, 20 Oct. 2026 Watching their metronomic thriller does more to suggest the arrival of a hyper-sexualized answer to the Coen brothers than the progeny of William Gibson or the progenitors of multiplex psychedelia. — Nick Newman, IndieWire, 1 June 2026 Its story of five girls — all navigating preteenagerdom under the stewardship of their tragically well-meaning white dads — stands firmly on its own legs, even staring down some of its progenitors. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 20 May 2026 To get to the bottom of things, though, the team behind the new research examined the host galaxies and environments of LFBOTs to try to pin down what the progenitors of these explosive events could really be. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 May 2026 In a scene following the triumph of successfully creating a human blastocyst outside the womb, IVF’s three progenitors face the Medical Research Council. — Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026 The key to calculating the amount of energy blasted out is realizing that the mass of a merger’s resulting black hole is not simply the sum of its progenitors. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2026 Somewhere in Africa there is a city, town, or village where Henry Fordham’s progenitors lived and died for hundreds or thousands of years, where my distant relatives walk the streets today. — Eugene Robinson, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2026 Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents, and Duwaji in Texas to Syrian Muslim progenitors. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 2 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for progenitors
  1. ancestors
  2. grandfathers
  3. fathers
Noun
  • Throughout the region, remains of 5,500 ancestors that were displaced have been made available for return to the Tohono O’odham Nation, according to ProPublica’s NAGPRA database.
    — Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 2 Nov. 2026
  • What began as a personal offering to her ancestors evolved into a recognizable symbol of cultural visibility across the city.
    — Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of ancestors
Noun
  • Quimby’s mom, grandmother, both grandfathers and friends all contributed, with friends traveling from Maine and Naples to help with the finishing touches.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 1 Nov. 2026
  • This is not uncommon here on the northern edge of the Iron Range, where many locals had fathers or grandfathers who worked underground before subsequent generations pivoted to tourism.
    — Story Hinckley, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of grandfathers
Noun
  • Seeking election to the state legislature on Tuesday are some homeschooling mothers, a couple of homeschooling fathers, a grandfather and a recently graduated homeschooled student.
    — Kaitlin McCallum, Hartford Courant, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The fathers of both the husband and wife confirmed their identities to the outlet Monday.
    — Stephen Sorace , Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of fathers

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progenitors
progeny
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Cite this Entry

“Progenitors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/progenitors. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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