progenitor vs ancestor

progenitor and ancestor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
progenitor	Yes	No	No	No
ancestor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, ancestor is a hypernym of progenitor; that is, ancestor is a word with a broader meaning than progenitor:

progenitor: an ancestor in the direct line
ancestor: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

Other hypernyms of progenitor include antecedent, ascendant, ascendent, root.

progenitor (noun)	ancestor (noun)
an ancestor in the direct line	someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)