Forerunner

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Forerunner \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.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              Whither the forerunner in for us entered, even
              Jesus.                                --Heb. vi. 20.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My elder brothers, my forerunners, came. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A predecessor; an ancestor. [Obs.] --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Naut.) A piece of rag terminating the log line.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  forerunner
       n 1: anything that precedes something similar in time;
            "phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience"
            [syn: {antecedent}]
       2: a person who goes before or announces the coming of another
          [syn: {precursor}]
       3: an indication of the approach of something or someone [syn:
          {harbinger}, {herald}, {precursor}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  101 Moby Thesaurus words for "forerunner":
     Gabriel, Mahdi, advertisement, advertiser, ancestor, announcement,
     announcer, antecedent, augury, author, avant-garde, bell cow,
     bell mare, bellwether, born leader, buccinator,
     buccinator novi temporis, bushwhacker, charismatic leader,
     choirmaster, choragus, coach, conductor, coryphaeus, duce, envoy,
     evangel, evangelist, example, exemplar, explorer, file leader,
     forebear, forefather, foregoer, foreshadow, foreshadower,
     foretoken, forewarning, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman,
     groundbreaker, guide, harbinger, herald, herald angel, initiator,
     innovator, inspired leader, instructor, lead runner, leader,
     leader of men, mark, mentor, messenger, messiah, model, omen,
     originator, outrider, pacemaker, pacesetter, pathfinder, pattern,
     pioneer, point, portent, precedent, precentor, precursor,
     predecessor, premise, premonition, premonitor, preparationist,
     preparator, preparer, presage, presager, progenitor, prognostic,
     prototype, ringleader, scout, sign, standard-bearer, stormy petrel,
     symphonic conductor, symptom, teacher, token, torchbearer,
     trailblazer, trailbreaker, trainer, vanguard, vaunt-courier,
     voortrekker, warning
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Forerunner
     John the Baptist went before our Lord in this character (Mark
     1:2, 3). Christ so called (Heb. 6:20) as entering before his
     people into the holy place as their head and guide.