forerunner

American  

[fawr-ruhn-er, fohr-, fawr-ruhn-er, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˌrʌn ər, ˈfoʊr-, fɔrˈrʌn ər, foʊr- /

noun

• forerunners
  plural

1. predecessor; ancestor; forebear; precursor.

2. an omen, sign, or indication of something to follow; portent.

   The warm evenings were a forerunner of summer.

3. a person who goes or is sent in advance to announce the coming of someone or something that follows; herald; harbinger.

4. the Forerunner, John the Baptist.

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forerunner British  

/ ˈfɔːˌrʌnə /

noun

1. a person or thing that precedes another; precursor

2. a person or thing coming in advance to herald the arrival of someone or something; harbinger

3. an indication beforehand of something to follow; omen; portent

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• forerunners
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of forerunner

First recorded in 1250–1300, forerunner is from the Middle English word forrenner. See fore-, runner

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Explanation

A forerunner is someone or something that came before and paved the way for something today. Rotary phones were forerunners of today's complex cell phones. The prefix fore- in forerunner is a clue that this word has to do with things that came before. A forerunner is someone from the past who preceded someone today, making new things possible. In the NBA, players like Wilt Chamberlain were forerunners of centers who played later. Early, gigantic computers were forerunners of today's sleek sophisticated computers. George Washington was a forerunner of every US president who has served since. Make sure to thank forerunners for paving the way for the rest of us slackers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

forerunner forerunners

Webb eschews the Wagnerian method of film scoring—dark motifs for the evil characters, bright tunes for the good ones—in favor of fluid, shifting psychological music, a forerunner of Hitchcock’s scores with Bernard Herrmann.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Burnham has long been involved with fans' groups and he founded Supporters Direct, one of the forerunner organisations to the Football Supporters' Association.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Tim Burton’s stylish 1989 movie, “Batman,” wasn’t only a forerunner of the superhero films to come in the following decades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

She made the leap to the small screen in the 1950s on Children's Television Club, a forerunner of Blue Peter.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

The book described a variation oFchess that seemed to be the forerunner of Fischer Random, with the exact same rules.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Margaret and Alice are the forerunners of Lucy and Ethel, and Shakespeare’s comedy, written expressly to entertain, gives us a sense of what an Elizabethan-era situation comedy might look like.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Some private credit is packaged into collateralized loan obligations, or CLOs, but they are far smaller and less complex than their subprime forerunners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

“As soon as this passed, then you have the start of what are the forerunners of modern airlines,” said Randall, like “American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 13, 2024

For our fruit-loving forerunners a few million years before we figured out cooking, a little squish was an easy cue that our food was ready to eat.

From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2024

The two states, Wari and Tiwanaku, were probably the greatest of the Inkas’ forerunners, and certainly the predecessors from whom they took the most.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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Related Words

• precursor

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