forefather
‘an ancestor’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
M.E. for-, fore- < O.E. fore- ‘before in time, rank, position’ + father < fæder ‘he who begets a child, nearest male ancestor,’ (in Late Old English) ‘one who exercises parental care over another’ < Proto-G. fader < faad < pəter- < Tamil appā