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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
James Barron, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
Both join a long tradition of women storytellers in Latin America that includes forebears such as Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, Susana Baca and the great cantadoras of Colombia, voices such as Totó La Momposina, Petrona Martínez, ad Etelvina Maldonado, all keepers of the people’s memory.
—Fernando Gonzalez, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2025
At her Hall of Fame induction two years ago, Crow was celebrated on both ends: by Stevie Nicks, her own hero and forebear, and Olivia Rodrigo, a 21st-century acolyte.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 30 Apr. 2025
Assimilation would have made life easier for French-speaking Babs and her forebears, but fitting in wasn’t for them.
—Lisa Henricksson, Air Mail, 29 Mar. 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 5 Jun. 2025.
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