Precursor Definition
prĭ-kûrsər, prēkûrsər
precursors
noun
precursors
A person or thing that goes before; forerunner; harbinger.
Webster's New World
One that precedes and indicates, suggests, or announces someone or something to come.
Colonial opposition to unfair taxation by the British was a precursor of the Revolution.
American Heritage
A predecessor, as in office.
Webster's New World
A substance that precedes and is the source of another substance.
Webster's New World
A biochemical substance, such as an intermediate compound in a chain of enzymatic reactions, from which a more stable or definitive product is formed.
A precursor of insulin.
American Heritage Medicine
Other Word Forms of Precursor
Noun
Singular:
precursorPlural:
precursorsOrigin of Precursor
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Middle English precursoure from Old French precurseur from Latin praecursor from praecursus past participle of praecurrere to run before prae- pre- currere to run kers- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Latin praecursor (“forerunner")
From Wiktionary
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