[pro.gen.i.tor] n [ME, fr. MF progeniteur, fr. L progenitor, fr. progignere to beget, fr. pro- forth + gignere to beget--more at kin] (14c) 1 a: an ancestor in the direct line: forefather b: a biologically ancestral form
2: precursor, originator "~s of socialist ideas --Times Lit. Supp."