precursor

1 one that announces or indicates the later arrival of another 18th-century lyric poets like Robert Burns were precursors of the Romantics Synonyms angel, foregoer, harbinger, herald, outrider, forerunnerRelated Words foreboder, foreshadower, foretaste, forewarning; advertiser, announcer, blazoner, crier, proclaimer; courier, messenger, runner; augury, auspice, boding, foreboding, foreshadowing, omen, portent, prefiguring, presage; mark, sign, symptom; bellwether

2 something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed a precursor of the modern eggplant Synonyms antecedent, archetype, daddy, foregoer, forerunner, granddaddy (also grandaddy), ancestor, predecessor, prototypeRelated Words model, original; originator, sire; father, motherNear Antonyms by-product, derivative, offshoot, outgrowth, spin-off; daughter, sonAntonyms descendant (also descendent)