forerunner

[ fawr-ruhn-er, fohr-, fawr-ruhn-er, fohr- ]

noun

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.

forerunner

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of forerunner¹

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

Example Sentences

Anita Bryant, a singer and former beauty queen, was making commercials for a brand of Florida orange juice when, in the 1970s and ‘80s, she also crusaded against gay rights and, as a forerunner to the current “grooming” madness, warned ominously about gay “recruiting.”

From Los Angeles Times

The paper's forerunner, named the Standard, launched 197 years ago, with an evening version added in 1859.

From BBC

He added that while the "lines between fantasy and reality aren’t always made clear", the movie is "just as edgy and disturbing as its forerunner, replicating the idea of modern American cities as terrifying powder kegs perpetually on the cusp of explosion".

From BBC

The California Real Estate Assn., the forerunner of today’s California Assn. of Realtors, bought newspaper ads blaming “minority pressure groups” for pushing public housing, and the organization’s code of ethics at the time barred agents from integrating neighborhoods based on “race or nationality.”

From Los Angeles Times

He was working as a television producer when he was asked to collaborate with other TV innovators assembled by the Ford Foundation in the early 1960s to transform a limited service that generated no original programming into National Educational Television, the forerunner of the Public Broadcasting Service.

From New York Times

Related Words

• precursor