Definition of "forebear" [fore•bear]

• A person from whom one is descended; an ancestor. See Synonyms at ancestor. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Woking-based outfit, who have been dubbed the 'British super-team' since reigning world champion Jenson Button joined their ranks alongside his title forebear Lewis Hamilton, became only the second of the 2010 F1 entries to officially launch their new car."
• "Joseph Proudhon, a man ahead of his time, and who would soon become known as a forebear to anarchism."
• "i 'the "killing times," ye ken, preachin' till the puir hill folk, an 'baptizin' their bairns -- he baptized a forebear o 'my ain -- and it would likely be the annivairsary o' the day when he escaped frae the hans o 'the hunters through the "haar," when I chanced to come by here an' saw a bit tent pit up, an 'heard folk carousin' within."