Adjacent Words

Precursor definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRECURS'OR, n. [L. proecursor, supra.] A forerunner; a harbinger; he or that which precedes an event and indicates its approach; as Jove's lightnings, the precursors of thunder.
A cloud in the southwest, in winter, is often the precursor of a snow storm. A hazy atmosphere in the west, at sunset, is often the precursor of a cloudy or of a rainy day.
Evil thoughts are the invisible, airy precursors of all the storms and tempests of the soul.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a substance from which another substance is formed (especially by a metabolic reaction)
2: a person who goes before or announces the coming of another [syn: precursor, forerunner]
3: something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone [syn: harbinger, forerunner, predecessor, herald, precursor]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English precursoure, from Latin praecursor, from praecurrere to run before, from prae- pre- + currere to run — more at current Date: 15th century 1. a. one that precedes and indicates the approach of another b. predecessor 2. a substance, cell, or cellular component from which another substance, cell, or cellular component is formed Synonyms: see forerunner • precursory adjective

U.S. Military Dictionary

Any chemical reactant which takes place at any stage in the production by whatever method of a toxic chemical. This includes any key component of a binary or multicomponent chemical system. (JP 3-11)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a forerunner. b a person who precedes in office etc. 2 a harbinger. 3 a substance from which another is formed by decay or chemical reaction etc. Etymology: L praecursor f. praecurrere praecurs- (as PRAE-, currere run)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Precursor Pre*cur"sor, n. [L. praecursor, fr. praecurrere to run before; prae before + currere to run. See Course.] One who, or that which, precedes an event, and indicates its approach; a forerunner; a harbinger. Evil thoughts are the invisible, airy precursors of all the storms and tempests of the soul. --Buckminster. Syn: Predecessor; forerunner; harbinger; messenger; omen; sign.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(precursors) A precursor of something is a similar thing that happened or existed before it, often something which led to the existence or development of that thing. He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of/to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Forerunner, predecessor, antecedent, cause. 2. Messenger, harbinger, herald, vancourier, avant-courier, pioneer, advance-guard.

Moby Thesaurus

advance guard, agent, airhead, alterant, alterative, alterer, ancestor, ancestors, announcer, antecedence, antecedency, antecedent, anteposition, anteriority, apprentice, architect, artificer, artist, author, avant-garde, battle line, beachhead, begetter, beginner, bridgehead, buccinator novi temporis, builder, catalyst, catalytic agent, colonial, colonist, colonizer, conceiver, constructor, craftsman, creator, danger sign, designer, deviser, discoverer, dominion, early bird, early comer, early riser, early symptom, effector, engenderer, engineer, executor, executrix, falling barometer, farthest outpost, father, ferment, first arrival, first line, forefront, foregoer, foregoing, forerunner, foreshadower, founder, front, front line, front position, front rank, front-runner, gathering clouds, generator, grower, harbinger, heading, herald, high sign, homesteader, immigrant, inaugurator, industrialist, initiator, innovationist, innovator, instigator, institutor, introducer, inventor, journeyman, le pas, leading, leaven, line, maker, manufacturer, master, master craftsman, messenger, modificator, modifier, mother, nester, omen, organizer, originator, outguard, outpost, outrider, past master, pioneer, planner, planter, point, precedence, precedency, precedent, preceding, precession, predecessor, preference, prefixation, preliminary sign, prelude, premise, premonitor, premonitory sign, premonitory symptom, presager, prime mover, priority, prodroma, prodrome, producer, prothesis, prototype, quarantine flag, railhead, raiser, realizer, red flag, red light, scout, settler, shaper, sire, skull and crossbones, smith, sooner, spearhead, squatter, storm petrel, stormy petrel, superiority, symptom, the lead, thundercloud, thunderhead, top priority, transformer, transmogrifier, urgency, van, vanguard, warning sign, warning signal, wright, yeast, yellow flag, yellow jack