as in ancestor
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
our forefathers bought this farm, and our family has worked it for three generations
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Recent Examples of forefather
To be sure, in the late 1800s and especially in the years before and after the Holocaust, many Jews emigrated from various European countries to the land of their forefathers.
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Avi Shafran, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2024
Elendil, a pivotal figure in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology, is the forefather of Aragorn’s lineage, famously portrayed by Viggo Mortensen in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 6 Aug. 2024
The Harlem of today is a global destination thanks to the vision of our forefathers.
—Lloyd Williams, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2024
But are most guys really fixated on the way our decline mirrors that of our forefathers?
—Judy Berman, TIME, 17 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for forefather 
Avi Shafran, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2024
Elendil, a pivotal figure in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology, is the forefather of Aragorn’s lineage, famously portrayed by Viggo Mortensen in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 6 Aug. 2024
The Harlem of today is a global destination thanks to the vision of our forefathers.
—Lloyd Williams, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2024
But are most guys really fixated on the way our decline mirrors that of our forefathers?
—Judy Berman, TIME, 17 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for forefather
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forefather
Noun
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John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough and an ancestor of Winston’s, drew his sword to protect the prince from the panicking crowd, and Samuel Pepys, the celebrated diarist and Royal Navy administrator, witnessed the sinking.Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
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How brujas use spirituality to honor the ancestors on Día de Muertos.Christian Orozco, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
Noun
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My grandfather, a rabbi who died this year, made it out of Europe before the Holocaust.Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
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Harris regularly visited India as a child and spent time with her grandfather, P. V. Gopalan, a freedom fighter in India.Yash Roy, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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One of the drivers in the original crash, her father and both police officers were standing in front of the cars involved when Geer crashed into the back of the Tacoma, police said in the affidavit.Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 14 Nov. 2024
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Their father — whose name has not been confirmed — tried to cling on to them but they were swept away by the tide of water, state news agency EFE reported.Reuters, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Forefather.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forefather. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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