progenitor

• progenitour (obsolete)

From Middle English, from Middle French progeniteur (Modern French progéniteur), from Latin progenitor, from progenitus, perfect participle of progignere (“to beget”), itself from pro- (“forth”) + gignere (“to beget”).

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

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹoʊˈd͡ʒɛn.ɪ.tɚ/, /pɹəˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.tɚ/

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)

1. progenitor

• progènie
• progenitura

• “progenitor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “progenitor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “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 pro- +‎ genitor.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /proːˈɡe.ni.tor/, [proːˈɡɛnɪt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /proˈd͡ʒe.ni.tor/, [proˈd͡ʒɛːnit̪or]

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, 2008–2024

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 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28