forbear

Multiple Entries:
  forbear    forebear  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
forbear1 /fɔːˈbɛː/

▶verb (past forbore; past part. forborne) refrain from doing something.

– origin OE forberan (see for-, bear1).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
forbear2 /ˈfɔːbɛː/

▶noun variant spelling of forebear.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
forebear /ˈfɔːbeə(r)/ (also forbear)

▶noun an ancestor.

– origin C15: from fore + bear, var. of obs. beer ‘someone who exists’.