forefather : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: forefather	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for forefather
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
forefather n the founder of a family; "keep the faith of our forefathers" Synonym(s): forefather, father, sire person from an earlier time who contributed to the tradition shared by some group; "our forefathers brought forth a great nation"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Forefather \Fore"fa`ther\ (?; 277), n. One who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree; an ancestor. Respecting your forefathers, you would have been taught to respect yourselves. --Burke. {Forefathers' Day}, the anniversary of the day (December 21) on which the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620). On account of a mistake in reckoning the change from Old Style to New Style, it has generally been celebrated on the 22d.