Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An ancestor. synonym: ancestor.
- noun A person who is from an earlier time and has originated or contributed to a common tradition shared by a particular group.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An ancestor; one who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree; an ancestor.
- noun the anniversary of the day (December 21) on which the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620). On account of a mistake in reckoning the change from Old Style to New Style, it has generally been celebrated on the 22d.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Ancestor (Wikipedia). - noun
Cultural ancestor; one who originated anidea ortradition .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the founder of a family
- noun person from an earlier time who contributed to the tradition shared by some group
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Take, for example, the fact that while Lovecraft is usually described as a forefather of modern horror fiction, his stories are, to put it bluntly, not very scary.
- Boing Boing 2005
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They have a tradition that their forefather was a man of the name of Shayg (شايق), whose four sons gave origin to their principal tribes.
Travels in Nubia 2004
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Giotto, the man described as the forefather of the Renaissance movement.
The Guardian World News Stuart Heritage 2011
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'I am a Sac,' said I; 'my forefather was a Sac; and all the nation call me a Sac.'
History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians 1787-1854 Old Humphrey 1820
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The "forefather" of these boats was Johnny Morris with his Bass Pro Tracker package models.
Tracker Pro team 175 2008
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I am a "forefather" myself (for I have six children), but I am not the son of a forefather.
Modern Eloquence: Vol II, After-Dinner Speeches E-O Various 1870
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Unknown to us, at time we were deliberating over him, the man famously called the forefather of the City Fiction’ had passed on.
9TH LAGOS BOOK AND ART FESTIVAL becomes CYPRIAN EKWENSI BOOK AND ART FESTIVAL, LASBAF 07 Winner of the Prince Claus Award 2006 2007
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Unknown to us, at time we were deliberating over him, the man famously called the forefather of the City Fiction’ had passed on.
Archive 2007-11-01 Winner of the Prince Claus Award 2006 2007
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Mr Brok, who used to be Mr Wolski's predecessor as the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, was presented as a "forefather" of the Eastern Partnership, as he championed a similar idea three years ago, called the "Neighbourhood Policy Plus" for the same group of countries.
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Mr Brok, who used to be Mr Wolski's predecessor as the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, was presented as a "forefather" of the Eastern Partnership, as he championed a similar idea three years ago, called the "Neighbourhood Policy Plus" for the same group of countries.
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