forebear means an ancestor. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.
forebear is pronounced /ˈfɔːˌbɛə/.
Why “forebear” is a great word
FOREBEAR — [Noun] An ancestor, especially one from whom a person is descended. From the combining form fore- (meaning "before") + the now-obsolete noun beer (meaning "one who is or exists," from be + -er). First attested in the late 15th century. Unlike "forbear" (a verb meaning to refrain) or "progenitor" (which implies a direct, founding line), "forebear" is a quieter, more encompassing term for lineage. It is the stern gaze in a faded daguerreotype, the trace of an unfamiliar lilt in one's own voice, and the unmarked plot in a country graveyard—the silent, accumulated weight of those who simply were, before us, the anonymous and absolute prerequisite for your own.
noun
- An ancestor.“One day, among the days, he bethought him of this and fell lamenting for that the most part of his existence was past and he had not been vouchsafed a son, to inherit the kingdom after him, even as he had inherited it from his fathers and forebears; by reason whereof there betided him sore cark and care and chagrin exceeding.”