precursor
Syllables: pre·cur·sor/pɹɪˈkɜː.sə/US/pɹɪˈkɜɹ.səɹ/
precursor noun: that which precurses: a forerunner, predecessor, or indicator of approaching events.
Noun
precursor (plural precursors)
- That which precurses: a forerunner, predecessor, or indicator of approaching events.
- Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:[…]. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of...2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist
- One of the compounds that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound.
Adjective
precursor (not comparable)
- Caused by the following symbol.
- Antonyms:
- postcursor
precursor meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
precursor in Tamil
- forerunner, predecessor
- முன்னோடி muṉṉōṭi
precursor in Urdu
- پیشرو
precursor in Bengali
- forerunner, predecessor
- অগ্রদূত ogrodut
precursor in Malayalam
- predecessor, forerunner, forefather
- മുൻഗാമി, പുരോഗാമി, പുരസ്സരൻ, നേരത്തേ അയയ്ക്കപ്പെടുന്ന സന്ദേശവാഹകൻ, മുന്നോടി, മുന്നടയാളം
- herald, harbinger, sign
- മുന്നോടി, അഗ്രഗാമി, നിഴൽ, മുന്നടയാളം, അടയാളം, ശകുനം
More languagesFewer languages
- precursor in Kannada
- ಅಟ್ಟಟ್ಟಿ aṭṭaṭṭi
- precursor in Indonesian
- prekursor
Examples of precursor in a sentence
- The exploration of unknown areas was often the precursor to colonization.
- In zebrafish, the adaxial cells are precursors to the embryonic slow muscle fibers.
- Glycocyamine is a direct precursor of creatine and is used as a supplement.
Synonyms of precursor
Antonyms
Forms of precursor
| plural | precursors |
|---|---|
| alternative form | præcursor |
Origin of precursor
Inherited from Middle English precursour, from Middle French precurseur or its etymon Latin praecursor (“forerunner”). By surface analysis, precurse + -or.
From pre- + cursor.
Words formed from precursor
Phrases with precursor
Questions about precursor
- What does precursor mean?
- Precursor means that which precurses: a forerunner, predecessor, or indicator of approaching events.
- What is precursor in Tamil?
- Precursor in Tamil is முன்னோடி (muṉṉōṭi). See Precursor meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is precursor?
- Precursor can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce precursor?
- Precursor is pronounced /pɹɪˈkɜː.sə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of precursor?
- The plural of precursor is precursors.
Words near precursor in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: precursor (page history and authors); precursor (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); precursor (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); ಅಟ್ಟಟ್ಟಿ (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-precursor.wav.
Cite this entry: “precursor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/precursor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.