progenitor

• progenitour (obsolete)

From Middle English progenitour, from Anglo-Norman progenitour, Middle French progeniteur (Modern French progéniteur), and their etymon Latin prōgenitor, from prōgenitus, perfect participle of prōgignere (“to beget”), itself from prō- (“forth”) + gignere (“to beget”).^[1][2][3] By surface analysis, pro- (“prior, fore-”) +‎ genitor.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹəʊˈd͡ʒɛn.ɪ.tə/, /pɹəˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.tə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹoʊˈd͡ʒɛn.ɪ.tɚ/, /pɹəˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.tɚ/
• Hyphenation: pro‧ge‧ni‧tor

progenitor (plural progenitors)

1. A forefather, any of a person's direct ancestors.

   Synonyms: ancestor, forefather

   Coordinate terms: progenitrix, foremother

2. A person from whom one or more people (dynasty, tribe, nation…) are descended.

   Abraham, alias Ibrahim, is the presumed progenitor of both the Jewish and Arab peoples.

3. (biology) An ancestral form of a species.
4. (figuratively) A predecessor of something, especially if also a precursor or model.

   ARPANET was the progenitor of the Internet.

   Are neural progenitor cells infected by Zika virus?

5. (figuratively) Someone who originates something.
6. A founder.

• progenitive, progeny

• progenitor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• troopering

Borrowed from Latin prōgenitōrem.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [pɾu.ʒə.niˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pɾo.ʒə.niˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pɾo.d͡ʒe.niˈtoɾ]
• Rhymes: -o(ɾ)
• Hyphenation: pro‧ge‧ni‧tor

progenitor m (plural progenitors, feminine progenitora, feminine plural progenitores)

1. progenitor

• progènie
• progenitura

• “progenitor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “progenitor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “progenitor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “progenitor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From prōgignō, prōgenitus +‎ -or.^[1][2] By surface analysis, prō- +‎ genitor.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [proːˈɡɛ.nɪ.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [proˈd͡ʒɛː.ni.t̪or]

prōgenitor m (genitive prōgenitōris); third declension

1. (rare) ancestor, progenitor

Third-declension noun.

• prōgenitrīx

• “progenitor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “progenitor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• progenitor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

From Latin prōgenitor.

• Hyphenation: pro‧ge‧ni‧tor

progenitor m (plural progenitores, feminine progenitora, feminine plural progenitoras)

1. progenitor (any of a person’s direct ancestors)
2. (figuratively) progenitor (a predecessor of something)

• progénie
• progenitura

• “progenitor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

From Latin prōgenitor.

• IPA^(key): /pɾoxeniˈtoɾ/ [pɾo.xe.niˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pro‧ge‧ni‧tor

progenitor m (plural progenitores, feminine progenitora, feminine plural progenitoras)

1. progenitor

• “progenitor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024