progenitor

About 0.99 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. noun A forefather, any of a person's direct ancestors.
2. noun 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. noun An ancestral form of a species.
4. noun A predecessor of something, especially if also a precursor or model.

   ARPANET was the progenitor of the Internet.

5. noun Someone who originates something.
6. noun A founder.

Similar words

primogenitor ancestor stem ancestry ancestral strain parent sire old-timer predecessor

Often followed by

of cells cell and in was is to star

Word family

progenitors