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Forebear (also spelled, less commonly, as 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." This -bear 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 -bear in the noun forebear is a combination of be-, from the verb be (or, more specifically, from been, an old dialect variant of be), and -ar, 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."
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Examples of forebear in a Sentence
Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 19 Nov. 2024
The tour group is sitting around a table having dinner and reminiscing about their forebears’ resilience, not their suffering.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 1 Nov. 2024
Chappell Roan represents a brave new generation of artists who aren’t as pliable or agreeable as their pop forebears—less willing to cozy up to political power and a little more aware, independent, and in control of their influence.
—Hazlitt, 23 Oct. 2024
Over a quarter century later, Garza has compiled an online database with 1.1 million names from northeastern Mexico and Texas, and feels no need to distance himself from forebears who were conquistadors or slavers.
—Edward Rueda, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Forebear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forebear. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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