FOREFATHERS Synonyms

• preceding in time or order

• someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

• a preceding occurrence or cause or event

• anything that precedes something similar in time

• the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun

• a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)

• `Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); `Padre' is frequently used in the military

• the founder of a family

• (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom

• God when considered as the first person in the Trinity

• a person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization

• a person who founds or establishes some institution

• the head of an organized crime family

• make (offspring) by reproduction

• a person from whom you are descended

• refrain from doing

• resist doing something

• a person from whom you are descended

• one who precedes you in time (as in holding a position or office)

• something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone

• an ancestor in the direct line

• a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)

• `Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); `Padre' is frequently used in the military

• the founder of a family

• (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom

• God when considered as the first person in the Trinity

• a person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization

• a person who founds or establishes some institution

• the head of an organized crime family

• make (offspring) by reproduction

• a title of address formerly used for a man of rank and authority

• the founder of a family

• male parent of an animal especially a domestic animal such as a horse

• make (offspring) by reproduction