as in ancestor
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
the progenitors of today's Maya once ruled a mighty empire that stretched across much of Central America
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Recent Examples of progenitor
This version of the Democratic Party, which featured the progenitor of wokeism, Obama himself, as the leading presidential campaign trail surrogate for Harris, was thoroughly rejected in November by the American people.
—
Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
By calculating the positions of nearby stellar clusters through time, the researchers identified two main suspects that could have housed the supernova progenitor.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 2 Mar. 2025
The two Metroidvania progenitors — 1986’s Metroid and 1987’s Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest — cultivated a sense of geographical bewilderment by letting players unfurl the secrets of their arcane worlds in any direction along the X and Y axes.
—Lewis Gordon, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
That series’ progenitor, Twin Peaks (1990-92) — also co-written with Frost — was the first network series to be organized around one character’s death and a community’s response to it.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for progenitor
Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
By calculating the positions of nearby stellar clusters through time, the researchers identified two main suspects that could have housed the supernova progenitor.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 2 Mar. 2025
The two Metroidvania progenitors — 1986’s Metroid and 1987’s Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest — cultivated a sense of geographical bewilderment by letting players unfurl the secrets of their arcane worlds in any direction along the X and Y axes.
—Lewis Gordon, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
That series’ progenitor, Twin Peaks (1990-92) — also co-written with Frost — was the first network series to be organized around one character’s death and a community’s response to it.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for progenitor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for progenitor
Noun
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The creature was an early common ancestor of platypuses and echidnas and the scientists used advanced scanning techniques to take a look at the bone's internal microstructure.—
Margherita Bassi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
1 May 2025
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However, our ancient ancestors used a variety of different substances as sunscreen to protect themselves.—
Monica Cull,
Discover Magazine,
1 May 2025
Noun
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But in a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust (Baldwin), breaks him out of jail, and the two flee to Mexico.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
1 May 2025
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Brant, Willem and Bonnie are all adults now and Idol is a gleeful grandfather of four, aged 2 to 5.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Britain's Prince William, son of King Charles III, will attend the funeral on his father's behalf, Kensington Palace said.—
Susan Miller,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2025
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At the time of their father’s death, Colton and McKenna were just 8 and 6 years old, respectively.—
Alex Gurley,
People.com,
27 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Progenitor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/progenitor. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
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