FORERUNNER

harbinger, forerunner, predecessor, herald, precursor

(noun) something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone

precursor, forerunner

(noun) a person who goes before or announces the coming of another

antecedent, forerunner

(noun) anything that precedes something similar in time; “phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

forerunner (plural forerunners)

A runner at the front or ahead.

(sport) By extension, a non-competitor who leads out the competitors on to the circuit, or who runs/rides the course prior to competitor trials, usually testing or checking the way.

A precursor or harbinger, a warning ahead.

A forebear, an ancestor, a predecessor.

(philately) A postage stamp used in the time before a region or area issues stamps of its own.

Source: Wiktionary

Fore*run"ner, n.

1. A messenger sent before to give notice of the approach of others; a harbinger; a sign foreshowing something; a prognostic; as, the forerunner of a fever. Whither the forerunner in for us entered, even Jesus. Heb. vi. 20. My elder brothers, my forerunners, came. Dryden.

2. A predecessor; an ancestor. [Obs.] Shak.

3. (Naut.)

Definition: A piece of rag terminating the log line.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition