precursor

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pre·cur·sor

(prĭ-kûr′sər, prē′kûr′sər)

1. 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.

2. One that precedes another; a forerunner or predecessor: The new principal's precursor was an eminent educator.

3. 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.

[Middle English precursoure, from Old French precurseur, from Latin praecursor, from praecursus, past participle of praecurrere, to run before : prae-, pre- + currere, to run; see kers- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

precursor

(prɪˈkɜːsə)

1. a person or thing that precedes and shows or announces someone or something to come; harbinger

2. a predecessor or forerunner

3. (Chemistry) a chemical substance that gives rise to another more important substance

[C16: from Latin praecursor one who runs in front, from praecurrere, from prae in front + currere to run]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pre•cur•sor

(prɪˈkɜr sər, ˈpri kɜr-)

n.

1. a person or thing that precedes, as in a job or a method; predecessor.

2. a person, animal, or thing regarded as a harbinger: The first robin is a precursor of spring.

3. 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.

4. a cell or tissue that gives rise to a variant, specialized, or more mature form.

[1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin]

pre•cur′so•ry, adj.

precursor

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. See also toxic chemical.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

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Noun	1.	precursor - a substance from which another substance is formed (especially by a metabolic reaction) biochemistry - the organic chemistry of compounds and processes occurring in organisms; the effort to understand biology within the context of chemistry material, stuff - the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat is the stuff they use to make bread"
	2.	precursor - a person who goes before or announces the coming of another forerunner individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" predecessor - one who precedes you in time (as in holding a position or office)
	3.	precursor - something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone harbinger, herald, predecessor, forerunner indicant, indication - something that serves to indicate or suggest; "an indication of foul play"; "indications of strain"; "symptoms are the prime indicants of disease"

precursor

noun

1. forerunner, pioneer, predecessor, forebear, antecedent, originator Real tennis, a precursor of the modern game, originated in the eleventh century.

2. herald, usher, messenger, vanguard, forerunner, harbinger The deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

precursor

noun

1. One that indicates or announces someone or something to come:

forerunner, foreshadower, harbinger, herald, presager.

2. One that precedes, as in time:

ancestor, antecedent, forerunner, predecessor, progenitor.

Translations

PräkursorVorläufer

précurseur prédécesseur

precursore

precursor

[priːˈkɜːsəʳ] N → precursor(a) m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

precursor

[priːˈkɜː^rsə^r] n

(= person) → précurseur m (= thing) → précurseur m (= event) → précurseur m
a precursor of sth → un précurseur de qch
a precursor to sth → un précurseur de qch

(CHEMISTRY) (also precursor chemical) → précurseur m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

precursor

n → Vorläufer(in) m(f); (= herald: of event etc) → Vorbote m, → Vorbotin f; (in office) → (Amts)vorgänger(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

precursor

[ˌpriːˈkɜːsəʳ] n → precursore m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

pre·cur·sor

n. precursor-a, predecesor-a, manifestación tal como la aparición de un síntoma o señal antes de desarrollarse una enfermedad;

a. precursor-a, predecesor-a; preliminar.

precursor

n precursor m

References in classic literature ?

The countess was accustomed to this tone as a precursor of news of something detrimental to the children's interests, such as the building of a new gallery or conservatory, the inauguration of a private theater or an orchestra.

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Claypole thought must be the immediate precursor of a violent fit of crying.

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The storm increase, the flashes succeeded one another more rapidly, the thunder began to growl, and the wind, the precursor of a hurricane, whistled in the plumes and the hair of the horsemen.

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As he passes in, we have a parting glimpse of his visage, and recognize the crafty smile, which was the precursor of the little joke that he has ever since been playing off at his wife's expense.

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Raising a shout of triumph, he sprang toward the defenseless Cora, sending his keen axe as the dreadful precursor of his approach.

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One glow of this kind, however, was often the precursor of gloom for many hours afterward; because, when the glow left him, he seemed conscious of a missing sense and power, and groped about for them, as if a blind man should go seeking his lost eyesight.

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Whether it be Providence or Fate, Gutenburg is the precursor of Luther.

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Rarity, as geology tells us, is the precursor to extinction.

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Against this ebullition of wounded female pride, the experienced husband made no other head, than by an occasional exclamation, which he intended to be precursor of a simple asseveration of his own innocence.

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But he had no opportunity of pondering over his love just then, for Bob Sawyer's return was the immediate precursor of the arrival of a meat-pie from the baker's, of which that gentleman insisted on his staying to partake.

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He will find it as sure a precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him."

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There were, however, exceptional authors, genuine artists, masters of meter and narrative, possessed by a true feeling for beauty; and in some of the romances the psychological analysis of love, in particular, is subtile and powerful, the direct precursor of one of the main developments in modern fiction.