progenitor

1. 1.

   an ancestor in the direct line

   Synonymsprimogenitor

   Broaderancestor

   Narrowergenitor

Other forms of progenitor

plural

progenitors·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about progenitor

What does progenitor mean?

progenitor means "an ancestor in the direct line".

How many syllables are in progenitor?

progenitor has 4 syllables: pro-gen-i-tor. The stress falls on "gen". In IPA it is /pɹoʊˈdʒɛnɪtɚ/.

What is another word for progenitor?

Close synonyms include primogenitor. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is progenitor a common word?

progenitor is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.