Precursor

How to spell precursor

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce precursor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does precursor mean?

1. nounA person or thing that comes before and leads to the development of another.

Precursor in a sentence

• The telegraph was a precursor of the modern telephone network.

• A sudden drop in orders can be a precursor to wider economic trouble.

Where does precursor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes directly from the Latin praecursor, meaning 'a forerunner' or 'one who runs ahead', which was built from the verb praecurrere, literally 'to run before'. That verb joins prae, meaning 'before' or 'in front of', with currere, meaning 'to run', the same root that gives English 'current', 'cursive', 'course', and 'occur'. In late Latin a praecursor was the scout or herald who went ahead of an army or a procession, and Christian writers also used it for John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ. English took the word in during the fifteenth century, keeping the figurative sense of something that comes before and signals what is to follow. The spelling trap is the ending: because the agent comes from Latin, it is -or rather than the more common English -er, and the single 'c' often tempts writers toward a doubled letter that was never there.

How the word is built

• prae- (before)
• curs (run, from Latin currere 'to run')
• -or (agent noun: one who or that which does)