forebear

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

Pronunciation: /ˈfɔːˌbɛə/ / /ˈfɔɹˌbɛɚ/

Etymology: Late 15th century, from fore- + beer (“one who is or exists”, literally “be-er”).

An ancestor.
“One day, among the days, he bethought him of this and fell lamenting for that the most part of his existence was past and he had not been vouchsafed a son, to inherit the kingdom after him, even as he had inherited it from his fathers and forebears; by reason whereof there betided him sore cark and care and chagrin exceeding.”
“[1906] 2004, Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville, Ethel Wedgwood tr. Sirs, I am quite sure that the King of England's forbears rightly and justly lost the conquered lands that I hold […]”