[fore.run.ner] n (13c) 1: one that precedes and indicates the approach of another: as a: a premonitory sign or symptom b: a skier who runs the course before the start of a race
2: predecessor, ancestor syn forerunner, precursor, harbinger, herald mean one that goes before or announces the coming of another. forerunner is applicable to anything that serves as a sign or presage "the blockade was the forerunner of war". precursor applies to a person or thing paving the way for the success or accomplishment of another "18th-century poets like Burns were precursors of the Romantics". harbinger and herald both apply, chiefly figuratively, to one that proclaims or announces the coming or arrival of a notable event "their early victory was the harbinger of a winning season" "the herald of a new age in medicine".