precursor
Americannoun
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a person or thing that precedes, as in a job, a method, etc.; predecessor.
- Synonyms:
- forerunner
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a person, animal, or thing that goes before and indicates the approach of someone or something else; harbinger.
The first robin is a precursor of spring.
- Synonyms:
- herald
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Chemistry, Biochemistry. a chemical that is transformed into another compound, as in the course of a chemical reaction, and therefore precedes that compound in the synthetic pathway.
Cholesterol is a precursor of testosterone.
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Biology. a cell or tissue that gives rise to a variant, specialized, or more mature form.
noun
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a person or thing that precedes and shows or announces someone or something to come; harbinger
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a predecessor or forerunner
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a chemical substance that gives rise to another more important substance
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of precursor
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin praecursor forerunner. See pre-, cursor
Explanation
You've heard the old saying "Pride comes before the fall?" Well, you could just as easily say pride is a precursor to the fall. A precursor is something that happens before something else. You don't have to be a dead languages scholar to guess that this word springs from a Latin source — praecursor, "to run before." A precursor is usually related to what it precedes. It's a catalyst or a harbinger, leading to what follows or providing a clue that it's going to happen. Binging on holiday candy is a precursor to tummy aches and promises to exercise more. Draconian policies in unstable nations are often a precursor to rebellion.
Vocabulary lists containing precursor
Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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This Week in Pop Culture: February 16 - 22, 2019
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100 SAT words Beginning with "P"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“AT&T has been an acquisition machine for decades. It’s been instrumental to their growth,” said Scott Cleland, president of Precursor, a research consultancy.
From Washington Post • May 22, 2021
Satellites such as the European Sentinel-5 Precursor mission can monitor air pollution at a relatively coarse resolution, with pixels that are 3.5 by 7 kilometres.
From Nature • Feb. 11, 2019
More than Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, more than Charles-Francois Daubigny, both of whom also worked in Fontainebleau, Rousseau ranks as perhaps Western art history’s Precursor in Chief.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2016
It would enhance the National Precursor Log Exchange, which tracks pseudoephedrine sales, to issue a stop-sale alert if those felons attempt to buy the medicine.
From Washington Times • Mar. 21, 2016
It is for this reason that we need the Precursor to make ready for the Messiah.
From Spontaneous Activity in Education by Montessori, Maria
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
