ascendant vs forefather

ascendant and forefather both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
ascendant	Yes	Yes	No	No
forefather	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, forefather is a hyponym of ascendant; that is, forefather is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than ascendant:

ascendant: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
forefather: the founder of a family

Other hyponyms of ascendant include ancestress, forbear, forebear, father, sire, foremother, primogenitor, progenitor.

ascendant (noun)	forefather (noun)
someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)	the founder of a family
position or state of being dominant or in control	person from an earlier time who contributed to the tradition shared by some group

ascendant (adjective)	forefather (adjective)
tending or directed upward
most powerful or important or influential