precursor

Language: en

🇺🇸 /priːˈkɜrsɜr/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A person or thing that precedes and indicates the approach of another; a forerunner.; A substance from which another substance is formed, especially in a metabolic reaction.; A person who goes before another to prepare the way; a herald.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: precursors

Collocations

precursor toprecursor ofa precursor toserve as a precursorchemical precursor

Derivatives

precursoryprecursorship

Synonyms

forerunnerpredecessorharbingerheraldantecedentforebear

Antonyms

successorconsequenceresult

Commonly confused

predecessor
EN: 'Predecessor' refers specifically to a person or thing that previously held a position or role; 'precursor' is broader, referring to anything that comes before and signals the approach of something else.
harbinger
EN: 'Harbinger' emphasizes being a sign or omen of something to come; 'precursor' emphasizes being a direct forerunner or early stage of something.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember 'precursor' has only one 'r' before the final 'sor' ending (not 'precursour' or 'precursur'). It is often misspelled as 'precursory' when the noun is intended.

💬 Examples

  1. The telegraph was a precursor to the telephone.

  2. Tyrosine is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine.

  3. John the Baptist is considered the precursor of Christ.