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Definition of precursor - 6 dictionary results

pre⋅cur⋅sor

  [pri-kur-ser, pree-kur-]
Use precursor in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person or thing that precedes, as in a job, a method, etc.; predecessor.
2. a person, animal, or thing that goes before and indicates the approach of someone or something else; harbinger: The first robin is a precursor of spring.
3. Chemistry, Biochemistry. a chemical that is transformed into another compound, as in the course of a chemical reaction, and therefore precedes that compound in the synthetic pathway: Cholesterol is a precursor of testosterone.
4. Biology. a cell or tissue that gives rise to a variant, specialized, or more mature form.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L praecursor forerunner. See pre-, cursor

Synonyms:
1. forerunner. 2. herald.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pre·cur·sor   (prĭ-kûr'sər, prē'kûr'sər)   
n.  
  1. One that precedes and indicates, suggests, or announces someone or something to come: Colonial opposition to unfair taxation by the British was a precursor of the Revolution.
  2. One that precedes another; a forerunner or predecessor: The new principal's precursor was an eminent educator.
  3. A biochemical substance, such as an intermediate compound in a chain of enzymatic reactions, from which a more stable or definitive product is formed: a precursor of insulin.

[Middle English precursoure, from Old French precurseur, from Latin praecursor, from praecursus, past participle of praecurrere, to run before : prae-, pre- + currere, to run; see kers- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Precursor

Pre*cur"sor\, n. [L. praecursor, fr. praecurrere to run before; prae before + currere to run. See Course.] One who, or that which, precedes an event, and indicates its approach; a forerunner; a harbinger.

Evil thoughts are the invisible, airy precursors of all the storms and tempests of the soul. --Buckminster.

Syn: Predecessor; forerunner; harbinger; messenger; omen; sign.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : precursor
Spanish: precursor,
German: der Vorläufer,
Japanese: 前ぶれ
More Translations »

precursor 
1504, from L. præcursor "forerunner," from præcursus, pp. of præcurrere, from præ- "before" + currere "to run" (see current).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: pre·cur·sor
Pronunciation: pri-'k&r-s&r, 'prE-"
Function: noun
1 : one that precedes and indicates the onset ofanother precursor of a second infarction>
2 : a substance, cell, or cellular component from which another substance, cell, or cellular component isformed especially by natural processes
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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precursor pre·cur·sor (prĭ-kûr'sər, prē'kûr'sər)
n.

  1. One that precedes and indicates something to come.
  2. One that precedes another; a forerunner or predecessor.
  3. A biochemical substance, such as an intermediate compound in a chain of enzymatic reactions, that gives rise to a more stable or definitive product.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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