progenitor

[ proh-jen-i-ter ]

noun

1. a biologically related ancestor:

   a progenitor of the species.

2. a person or thing that first indicates a direction, originates something, or serves as a model; predecessor; precursor:

   the progenitor of modern painting.

progenitor

/ prəʊˈdʒɛnɪtə /

noun

1. a direct ancestor
2. an originator or founder of a future development; precursor

Other Words From

• pro·gen·i·to·ri·al [proh-jen-i-, tawr, -ee-, uh, l, -, tohr, -], adjective
• pro·geni·tor·ship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of progenitor¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin prōgenitor the founder of a family. See pro- ¹, genitor

Word History and Origins

Origin of progenitor¹

C14: from Latin: ancestor, from pro- ¹+ genitor parent, from gignere to beget

Example Sentences

Watson was the most charismatic leader of the late-19th-century political thunderclap that came to be known as American populism, and his story resonates with the full promise and peril of the American project—he can be understood without exaggeration as the heroic scion of the Boston Tea Party and the fevered progenitor of Donald Trump’s violent fantasies.

From Slate

In a binary system, if the stars are close enough, the companion star can eat up materials from the supernova progenitor - the star about to go supernova.

From Space Scoop

In this process, the "supernova-to-be" will end up losing more star stuff than if the stars were far apart or if the progenitor was alone.

From Space Scoop

But it’s the British original — equal parts ‘90s time capsule and old-school melodrama — that today comes across as a forward-looking progenitor of “Looking” and other 21st century shows about gay characters who are fully, messily, truthfully human.

From Los Angeles Times

Because these "progenitor" T cells retain tremendous anti-tumor potential, there is great interest in determining how to maintain them and the mechanisms that promote their transition into the non-functional exhausted T cell.

From Science Daily