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Definition of "forefather" [fore•fa•ther]

  • An ancestor. See Synonyms at ancestor. (noun)
  • A person who is from an earlier time and has originated or contributed to a common tradition shared by a particular group. (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.

Use "forefather" in a sentence
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "Giotto, the man described as the forefather of the Renaissance movement."