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Forebear (also spelled, less commonly, as forbear) was first used by our ancestors in the days of Middle English. Fore- means "coming before," just as in forefather, and -bear means "one that is." This -bear is not to be confused with the -bear in the unrelated verb forbear, which comes from Old English beran, meaning "to bear or carry." The -bear in the noun forebear is a combination of be-, from the verb be (or, more specifically, from been, an old dialect variant of be), and -ar, a form of the suffix -er, which we append to verbs to denote one that performs a specified action. In this case the "action" is simply existing or being—in other words, -bear implies one who is a "be-er."
Examples of forebear in a Sentence
Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 26 July 2025
Like his Condé forebears, Graydon had learned to weaponize exclusivity.
—Michael Grynbaum, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2025
His forebears became famous for their excellent paella, famously serving it to the King of Spain in 1976, and Vidal has helped the dish reach an even wider audience since then.
—Sofia Perez, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
The case was dismissed in 2021, with the presiding judge ruling that the images had not been the property of Lanier’s forebears and thus did not rightfully belong to her.
—News Desk, Artforum, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for forebear
Cite this Entry
“Forebear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forebear. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
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