forerunner

Plural: forerunners

Noun

• a person who goes before or announces the coming of another
• something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone
• anything that precedes something similar in time
• A runner at the front or ahead.
• 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.
• A postage stamp used in the time before a region or area issues stamps of its own.

Examples

• Bakelite is a forerunner of today's plastics.

Synonyms

antecedent, harbinger, herald, precursor, predecessor