<p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>a person or thing that precedes, as in a job, a method, etc.; predecessor.</li><li>Synonyms: forerunner.</li><li>a person, animal, or thing that goes before and indicates the approach of someone or something else; harbinger: The first robin is a precursor of spring.</li><li>Synonyms: herald.</li><li>Chemistry, Biochemistry: a chemical that is transformed into another compound, as in the course of a chemical reaction, and therefore precedes that compound in the synthetic pathway: Cholesterol is a precursor of testosterone.</li><li>Biology: a cell or tissue that gives rise to a variant, specialized, or more mature form.</li></ul>