progenitor

plural progenitors · alternative obsolete progenitour

1. A forefather, any of a person's direct ancestors.

   Synonyms: ancestor, forefather

2. 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. biologyAn ancestral form of a species.
4. figurativelyA predecessor of something, especially if also a precursor or model.

   ARPANET was the progenitor of the Internet.

   2 more examples

   Are neural progenitor cells infected by Zika virus?

   From its inception, the index has provided a window onto the history of the book, for it took the advent of a particular type of book — the codex, a sheaf of pages fastened along one edge — to make an index a practical possibility. The progenitor of the modern bound book, the codex gradually supplanted the scroll, a medium inimical to the indexer’s art.

   2022 February 15, Margalit Fox, “Look It Up? Only if You’re Dishonest and Ignorant”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 30 Jul 2022

5. figurativelySomeone who originates something.
6. A founder.