progenitor

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: pro=gen=i=tor

CIDE DICTIONARY

progenitor, n. [OF. progeniteur, L. progenitor, fr. progignere, progenitum, to bring forth, to beget; pro forth + gignere to beget. See Gender kind.].

 An ancestor in the direct line; a forefather.  [1913 Webster]
"And reverence thee their great progenitor."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

progenitor, n.
1 the ancestor of a person, animal, or plant.
2 a political or intellectual predecessor.
3 the origin of a copy.

Derivative

progenitorial adj. progenitorship n.

Etymology

ME f. OF progeniteur f. L progenitor -oris f. progignere progenit- (as PRO-(1), gignere beget)

THESAURUS

progenitor

ancestor, ancestors, ancestress, antecedent, antecedents, archetype, ascendant, ascendants, begetter, elders, fathers, forebear, forebears, forefather, forefathers, foregoer, forerunner, grandfathers, grandparent, grandparents, guide, origin, original, originator, parent, patriarchs, pattern, precursor, predecessor, predecessors, primogenitor, procreator, progenitors, progenitress, progenitrix, prototype, source

ROGET THESAURUS

progenitor

Paternity

N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.