precursor
noun
ˈprē-ˌkər-
Did you know?
Precursor Has Latin Roots
With its prefix pre-, meaning "before", a precursor is literally a "forerunner", and in fact forerunner first appeared as the translation of the Latin praecursor. But the two words function a little differently today. A forerunner may simply come before another thing, but a precursor generally paves the way for something. So, for example, the Office of Strategic Services in World War II was the immediate precursor of today's Central Intelligence Agency, while the blues music of the 1930s and 1940s was only one of the precursors of the rock and roll of today.
Examples of precursor in a Sentence
Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner, 3 May 2025
The paintings are a precursor to Mexico’s famous catsta (caste) paintings — a genre invented to depict biracial families that was omnipresent during most of the 18th century.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2025
Fried’s first start was rocky but mostly because the Yankees committed five errors behind him and the defensive miscues were overshadowed by the nine homers in a 20-9 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers that was the precursor to the extensive torpedo bat discussion that even made network news.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
That action, however, does not need to be a precursor to an actual war, the judge said.
—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for precursor
Cite this Entry
“Precursor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precursor. Accessed 8 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
precursor
noun
ˈprē-ˌkər-
Medical Definition
precursor
noun
ˈprē-ˌ
Share