progenitressn.
/prə(ʊ)ˈdʒɛnᵻtrᵻs/, /prə(ʊ)ˌdʒɛnᵻˈtrɛs/, U.S. /prəˈdʒɛnətrəs/, /proʊˈdʒɛnətrəs/ = progenitrix n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] > female
motherOE
progenitrixc1487
progenitrice?a1505
grandmother1526
ancestress1580
foremother1582
progenitress1611
predecessrix1640
mai1845
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xvi. 659/2 Herselfe a Queene and a Progenitresse of those glorious Kings and Queenes which followed.
1635 T. Heywood Hierarchie Blessed Angells vi. 343 Eve our first Progenitresse.
1652 J. Paulet tr. P. Le Moyne Gallery Heroick Women 75 The Iulia's, and the Paulina's their Progenitresses of these judicious and lovely Women.
1860 Harper's Mag. Sept. 461/2 Their [sc. spiders'] great progenitress, the famous young lady of Lydia, challenged the potent goddess Minerva to a spinning match.
1883 Cent. Mag. 26 291 She was a worthy progenitress of a long line of most charming women novelists.
1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 759/2 The earliest progenitress of Parliament's petticoated invaders.
1929 M. de la Roche Whiteoaks xix. 256 By ones, twos, and threes her descendants came to mourn over their progenitress.
1971 J. Cody After Great Pain Epil. 499 Her unobtrusive, ungifted, and unstimulating mother—the ultimate progenitress..of the verse.
1995 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 30 July g4 The women of any clan are the progenitresses, the foremothers who should be honored along with the sires.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1611