antecursorn.

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Antecursor, one that runs or rides before, a forerunner.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Antecessors, in the antient art of war..a party of horse dispatched before the agmen or body of an army..also denominated Antecursores.

1791 Encycl. Brit. I. 325/2 Antecursores, in the Roman armies, a party of horse detached before, partly to get intelligence, provisions, &c. and partly to choose a proper place to encamp in.

1859 J. Ogilvie Imperial Dict. I. 84/2 In the Roman armies, the antecursors were a body of horse detached to obtain intelligence, get provisions, &c., for the main body.

1900 Proc. Oregon Hist. Soc. 163 A ‘pioneer’ proper is one that precedes an army, in order to clear the way of obstructions, to repair or make roads, build bridges, construct intrenchments, and so on, analogous to the ‘antecursor’ of the old Roman army, whose duties were similar to those here described.

1850 London Med. Gaz. 20 Sept. 524/1 The attempt at self-destruction is frequently the antecursor of insanity.

1886 Rep. & Trans. Cardiff Naturalists' Soc. 18 51 The Romans generally worked the mines by slaves and convicted criminals, under the supervision of mining officers employed by the Prefect, who thus appears as the historical antecursor of the modern ‘Gaveller’.

1923 Stud. Philol. 20 213 Barnabe Googe, Spenser's most interesting antecursor in English.

1988 F. F. Bruce Bk. Acts (rev. ed.) 157 [William] Manson's interpretation is part of his case for seeing Stephen as the antecursor of the writer to the Hebrews.