Etymology

forerunner

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Today it means: A runner at the front or ahead. Full definition →

Middle English forrenner ← Latin praecursor
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The story

  1. Latin · calque ofpraecursor“one who runs before, a forerunner”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromforrenner
  3. English todayforerunner

From Middle English forrenner, foreriner. Calque of Latin praecursor (“one who runs before, a forerunner”). Equivalent to fore- + runner and/or forerun + -er.

Words from the same roots

Latinpraecursor all →

precursory

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.