Standard Lemma guide

forefather

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: fôʹfäthə
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɔːˌfɑːðə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: fôrʹfäthər
  • General-American: /ˈfɔɹˌfɑːðɚ/
  • CMU ARPABET: F AO1 R F AA2 DH ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An ancestor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A cultural ancestor; one who originated an idea or tradition.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the founder of a family

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • keep the faith of our forefathers

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: father, sire

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ancestor, ascendant, ascendent, antecedent, root

Narrower terms: patriarch

4

noun

Meaning 4

person from an earlier time who contributed to the tradition shared by some group

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • our forefathers brought forth a great nation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: predecessor

History

Etymology

From Middle English forefader, forfader, vorvader, from Old English forefæder (“forefather”), but possibly also merged with Old Norse forfaðir. Equivalent to fore- + father. Compare Dutch voorvader (“forefather”), German Vorvater, Vorfahr (“forefather”), Danish forfader (“forefather”), Swedish förfader (“forefather”).

Across languages

Translations

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: նախահայր (naxahayr) — ancestor
  • Azerbaijani: ata-baba — ancestor
  • Bulgarian: предци (predci) — ancestor
  • Czech: předek — ancestor
  • Danish: forfader — ancestor
  • Danish: ane — ancestor
  • Dutch: voorvader — ancestor
  • Esperanto: prapatro (M) — ancestor
  • Esperanto: praulo — ancestor
  • Finnish: esi-isä — ancestor
  • French: aïeul — ancestor
  • French: ancêtre — ancestor
  • German: Vorfahre — ancestor
  • Ancient Greek: γεννήτωρ (gennḗtōr) — ancestor
  • Ancient Greek: προπάτωρ (propátōr) — ancestor
  • Ancient Greek: φῡ́σᾱς (phū́sās) — ancestor
  • Hindi: पूर्वज (pūrvaj) — ancestor
  • Italian: avo — ancestor
  • Italian: ascendente — ancestor
  • Italian: antenato — ancestor
  • Italian: progenitore — ancestor
  • Japanese: 前任者 (zenninsha) — ancestor
  • Judeo-Italian: פַאטֵירוֹ — ancestor
  • Māori: tipuna tāne — ancestor
  • Māori: tupuna tāne — ancestor
  • Middle English: forfader — ancestor
  • Middle English: fornfader — ancestor
  • Middle English: forme fader — ancestor
  • Khiamniungan Naga: pàusǜpòu — ancestor
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forfader — ancestor
  • Norwegian Bokmål: stamfar — ancestor
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: forfar — ancestor
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: forfader — ancestor
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: stamfar — ancestor
  • Old English: ǣrfæder — ancestor
  • Old Turkic: 𐰯𐰀 (apa) — ancestor
  • Plautdietsch: Väavoda — ancestor
  • Polish: przodek — ancestor
  • Polish: antenat — ancestor
  • Portuguese: antepassado — ancestor
  • Russian: пре́док (prédok) — ancestor
  • Russian: прароди́тель (prarodítelʹ) — ancestor
  • Russian: пра́щур (práščur) — ancestor
  • Russian: праоте́ц (praotéc) — ancestor
  • Spanish: ancestro — ancestor
  • Spanish: antepasado — ancestor
  • Spanish: ascendiente — ancestor
  • Spanish: predecesor — ancestor
  • Swedish: förfader — ancestor
  • Tok Pisin: tumbuna — ancestor
  • Tok Pisin: tambaran — ancestor
  • Turkish: ata — ancestor
  • Ukrainian: пре́док (prédok) — ancestor
  • Ukrainian: пра́щур (práščur) — ancestor
  • Volapük: büröletan — ancestor
  • Volapük: hibüröletan — ancestor
  • Bulgarian: предтеча (predteča) — cultural ancestor
  • Czech: praotec — cultural ancestor
  • Khiamniungan Naga: pàusǜpòu — cultural ancestor
  • Polish: przodek — cultural ancestor