forerunner

forerunner, precursor, harbinger, herald are comparable when they denote someone or something that comes before another person or thing and in some way indicates his or its future appearance.

Forerunner may denote a messenger that goes before a personage (as a king, prince, or lord) to warn others of his approach

{

there is a forerunner come from . . . the Prince of Morocco, who brings word the prince his master will be here tonight— Shak.

}

{

there should also be one or more forerunners to visit each town before the company arrives, to speak . . . upon the plays— Masefield

}

but more often the term is applicable to something that serves as a sign, presage, or warning of something to follow

{

a coma is often the forerunner of death

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{

a black sky and a sudden squall are the usual forerunners of a thunderstorm

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{

the increase is a forerunner to a general rise in interest rates— New Republic

}

Precursor commonly carries an implication of making ready or of paving the way for the success or accomplishments of another person or thing rather than, as forerunner, one of serving as an announcement or prediction of what is to come

{

the medieval sects which Dr. Rufus Jones describes as precursors of Quakerism— Inge

}

{

Kepler, more than any man, was the precursor of Newton— Ellis

}

{

a long period of [chemical analysis] . . . was an essential precursor of the present period of synthesis which has been so fruitful of good to mankind— Morrison

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Harbinger occurs chiefly in an extended sense, sometimes applying to a person or thing that announces something which is coming and for which one must be prepared

{

make all our trumpets speak; give them all breath, those clamorous harbingers of blood and death— Shak.

}

{

the sinister white owl . . . the harbinger of destruction— Moorehead

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and sometimes applying to one which goes before as a pioneer or initiator

{

the great legal harbinger of the New Deal revolution— Time

}

{

the harbingers of peace to a hitherto distracted . . . people— Livingstone

}

Herald basically denotes an official who makes a solemn and stately proclamation or announcement (as of war or peace or the birth of an heir to the throne); in extended use it is applied to something which similarly announces or proclaims

{

it was the lark, the herald of the morn— Shak.

}

{

revolutions . . . were the heralds of social changes— R. W. Livingstone

}

Analogous words: anticipator (see corresponding verb at PREVENT): announcer or announcement, advertiser or advertisement (see corresponding verbs at DECLARE): portent, prognostic, omen, *foretoken, presage, augury: forewarning, warning (see WARN)