forerunner
- predecessor; ancestor; forebear; precursor.
- an omen, sign, or indication of something to follow; portent: The warm evenings were a forerunner of summer.
- a person who goes or is sent in advance to announce the coming of someone or something that follows; herald; harbinger.
- the Forerunner, John the Baptist.
Origin of forerunner
Related Words for forerunner
precursor, originator, harbinger, prognostic, author, announcer, advocate, envoy, pioneer, progenitor, prototype, ancestor, advertiser, initiator, predecessor, antecedent, omen, announcement, pattern, auguryExamples from the Web for forerunner
Contemporary Examples of forerunner
Melchior is the forerunner of the aunt who always gave me socks.
Turing conceived and built a computer, the forerunner of all digital computations, that cracked the code.
By contrast, Ashraf Ghani, the current forerunner in the partial second round results, got record support in Pashtun areas.
The organization started by Norquist is a forerunner to the Tea Party.
I see Dickens as the forerunner to people like Chaplin and Woody Allen, really.
Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens! ‘Lost,’ ‘NCIS,’ ‘Big Love,’ ‘Veep’ Writers on His LegacyJace Lacob
February 7, 2012
Historical Examples of forerunner
The ancient prototype and forerunner of political influence.
The Devil's DictionaryAmbrose Bierce
Beowulf is the forerunner of that other national dragon-slayer, St. George.
BeowulfUnknown
Startled, the people wondered was this enactment the forerunner of war.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second SeriesRafael Sabatini
It is looked upon as the forerunner of other and larger ones.
The Last VoyageLady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
The inn yard was to some extent the forerunner of the theatre.
William ShakespeareSamuel Levy Bensusan
forerunner
- a person or thing that precedes another; precursor
- a person or thing coming in advance to herald the arrival of someone or something; harbinger
- an indication beforehand of something to follow; omen; portent