A forebear is an ancestor, someone from whom you are descended. Your forebears are your grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on, stretching back through the generations. When a family gathers and the oldest members tell stories about their parents or grandparents, they're sharing memories of their forebears.

The word carries a sense of respect and connection to the past. When historians talk about our nation's forebears, they mean the people who lived before us and helped shape the country we have today. A scientist might honor the forebears of her field, the earlier researchers whose discoveries made her own work possible.

You might see forebear used when someone inherits a quality from earlier generations: “She inherited her musical talent from her forebears” or “His forebears were farmers for five generations.” The word reminds us that we're part of a long chain of people, each generation building on what came before.

Note that forebear (an ancestor) is different from forbear, which means to hold back or refrain from doing something. They sound the same but have completely different meanings and spellings.