Question

forebear noun 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." : ancestor, forefather; also : precursor

Accepted Answer

October 6, 2020 FOR-bair Although several of her male forebears had graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Tina was the first woman from her family to do so."Imagine what must have gone through the minds of our ancient Paleolithic forebears at such a spectacle. They had no modern technology, little information about eclipses, no foreknowledge at all of such events." — Pete Koutoulas, The Winchester (Kentucky) Sun, 21 Aug. 2020

Word	forebear
Date	October 6, 2020
Type	noun
Syllables	FOR-bair
Etymology	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	Although several of her male forebears had graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Tina was the first woman from her family to do so. "Imagine what must have gone through the minds of our ancient Paleolithic forebears at such a spectacle. They had no modern technology, little information about eclipses, no foreknowledge at all of such events." — Pete Koutoulas, The Winchester (Kentucky) Sun, 21 Aug. 2020
Definition	: ancestor, forefather; also : precursor

Bear Forebear Noun Means Verb October For Bair Spelled