an ancestor
Origin of forebear
from fore + be + -er
noun
The definition of a forebear is a person's ancestor.
An example of a forebear is a person's great great great grandfather.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"forebear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear>.
APA Style
forebear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear
forebear
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"forebear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear>.
APA Style
forebear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear
forebear
also for·bear
noun
A person from whom one is descended; an ancestor. See Synonyms at ancestor.
Origin of forebear
Late Middle English (Scottish) forbear Middle English fore- fore- beer one who is ( from ben to be ; see be . ) ( -er -er ; see -er 1. )Usage Note: Etymologically, a forebear is a “a fore-be-er,” a person who has existed in earlier times. But because the -bear part of this word is pronounced to rhyme with the verb bear, people apparently conceive of the word's meaning as “a person who has given birth in earlier times,” or “a person who has borne burdens in earlier times,” as if it was a compound of the prefix fore- and the verb bear. The existence of the verb forbear has probably reinforced this notion, even though that verb means “to restrain oneself from doing something” and has lost its original meaning of “to endure.” At any rate, the noun forebearer is sometimes found in place of forebear even in edited prose in sentences like His forebearers had crossed the Appalachians shortly after the American Revolution. The Usage Panel rejects this usage strongly but not overwhelmingly. In fact, 36 percent accepted this sentence in our 2008 survey, suggesting that forebearer may soon be a word whose time has come.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"forebear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear>.
APA Style
forebear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear
Usage notes
- Not to be confused with: forbear verb.
Verb
(third-person singular simple present forebears, present participle forebearing, simple past forebore, past participle foreborne)
- Obsolete spelling of forbear.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"forebear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear>.
APA Style
forebear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Forebear
Sentence Examples
- Conon de Bethune, the crusader and poet, was an early forebear.
WORDS NEAR forebear IN THE DICTIONARY
- forebear
- forearming
- forearms
- forebeam