forerunnern.
/ˈfɔːˌrʌnə/, /(ˌ)fɔːˈrʌnə/, U.S. /ˈfɔrˌrənər/ 1.
a. One who runs before, esp. one sent to prepare the way and herald a great man's approach, a harbinger; also, a guide. Chiefly transferred and figurative.First used figuratively as rendering of Latin præcursor, esp. of John the Baptist as ‘the Forerunner of Christ’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [noun] > antecedent or precursor
forerunnerOE
forridelc1000
messengerc1300
precursora1500
waymaker1574
postiliona1586
ushera1586
precedence1598
vaunt-courier1598
precedent1599
prodromus1602
ante-disposition1611
precedency1611
prodrome1611
antecedent1612
antedating1633
leading card1635
prodromy1647
antecessor1657
precursorya1660
prodromist1716
morning star1721
skirmisher1820
antecursor1850
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > going first or in front > [noun] > one who goes first
forerunnerOE
before-runnera1382
foregoer1382
foremanc1425
fore-rider1488
precursora1500
forewalker1529
precedent1599
precurrer1601
beginnerc1613
frontliner1895
society > travel > aspects of travel > guidance in travel > [noun] > one who guides or leads
way-witterc1275
leadera1300
lodesmanc1300
predecessora1325
guide1362
duistre1393
conduct1423
way-leaderc1450
guiderc1475
conductor1481
leadsmanc1510
janissary1565
Palinurus1567
forerunner1576
convoy1581
mercury1592
pilota1635
accompanier1753
runner1867
OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 56 Presta..ut familia tua..beati iohannis precursoris ortamenta sectando ad eum quem predixit secura perueniat : gearuig..þætte higo ðin..eadges ioh’ foreiornere gitrymniso fylgincgo to hine ðone forecuoeð sorgleas ðerhcyme.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13208 For-þi es he cald his foriner [MS. app. reads former; Gött. forinnier, Trin. Cambr. forgoer], And cristes aun messenger.
c1440 York Myst. xxi. 16 Þus am I comen in message right, And be fore-reyner in certayne.
1541 M. Coverdale tr. H. Bullinger Olde Fayth sig. Eviiij John the baptist, whiche was the fore runner of..Christ.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Hippocrates in Panoplie Epist. 292 Followyng ye infallible foot~steps of thy forerunner Nature.
1634 T. Heywood & R. Brome Late Lancashire Witches i. sig. B2v Farewell Gentlemen, Ile be your fore-runner, To give him notice of your visite.
a1711 T. Ken Preparatives for Death in Wks. (1721) IV. 144 Death our Fore-runner is, and guides To Sion.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. i. 520 Did he some loan..require, Or came fore-runner of your scepter'd Sire?
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 594 The Forerunner of our Lord.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 75 When Claudius the..forerunner of the Roman army, appeared at Rhegium.
b. In transferred use applied to things.
ΚΠ
1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Mar. 11 Gloss. The swallow..useth to be counted..the forerunner of springe.
1622 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (1661) 115 Advent Sundaies..are to Christmas Day..forerunners to prepare for it.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge Contents The Introduction or forerunner.
1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 4 Feb. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1672 A sort of panegyric of you..which will be a very useful fore-runner for you.
c. plural. The advance-guard of an army. Chiefly transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > part of army by position > [noun] > van or front
forerunnerseOE
vantward1297
formerward13..
forme-ward13..
vamward1338
fronta1375
pointa1382
frontier?a1400
vawarda1400
forayc1425
avantwardc1440
avant-garde1470
vanward1476
vantguard1485
vanguard1487
foreward1490
forefront1513
foremen1577
forefight?1611
vaunta1616
van1633
first line1663
front line1677
firing line1859
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 185 Felethi, feþemen, feþehere. Felethei, foreirnerum.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Wisd. xii. 8 Thou..sendest ye forerunners of thyne hoost, euen hornettes.
1661 Pagitt's Heresiogr. (ed. 6) 276 They..cryed out, that they were the fore-runner of Popery.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 233 Four thousand cavalry..had been sent forward by Servilius as his forerunners.
d. Skiing. [translating German vorläufer.] A skier who runs over the course as a preliminary to a skiing race.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > ski racing or race > [noun] > participant > forerunner to establish standard
forerunner1949
vorlaufer1961
1949 P. Cummings Dict. Sports Forerunner (Skiing), one who breaks a trail first before a competition starts.
1964 Times 31 Jan. 4/1 Three forerunners then came down to open the course.
2. One whom another follows or comes after, a predecessor; also, an ancestor.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun]
elder-fathereOE
fatherOE
elder971
alderOE
eldfatherOE
forme-fadera1200
ancestorc1300
grandsirec1300
aiela1325
belsirea1325
predecessora1325
forefather1377
morea1382
progenitorc1384
antecessorc1400
forn-fatherc1460
forebear1488
ancient1540
antecestrec1550
fore-grandsirec1550
grandfather1575
ascendant1604
forerunnera1616
ancienter1654
tupuna1845
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [noun] > one who goes first or predecessor
ancestorc1300
foreganger1340
before-goerc1384
antecessora1387
predecessora1387
oldersc1450
precessor1454
forn-goer1483
before-gangerc1520
Adam1553
foregoer1556
preventer1598
forerunnera1616
decessor1647
first-comer1690
precursor1792
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. i. 2 Arthur that great fore-runner of thy bloud. View more context for this quotation
1683 D. A. Whole Art Converse 7 Long descriptions of their own Pedigree, and grandure of their fore-runners.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 28 My..observations will be altogether of a different cast from any of my fore~runners.
1866 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 1st Ser. 15 Comte claims Hume as his chief forerunner in philosophy.
3. That which foreruns or foreshadows something else; a prognostic or sign of something to follow.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > an omen, sign, portent > [noun]
foretokenc888
tokeningc888
beaconc950
token971
handsela1200
boding1297
wonder1297
bodec1374
signa1387
foreboding1387
prenostica1393
prognosticc1425
prophetc1430
prognostication?a1439
ostentationa1450
prenostication?a1450
prodigy?a1450
augurationc1450
preparative1460
prenosticate?a1475
prenosticative?a1475
prodige1482
prenosticature1490
tokener1513
weird1513
show token1535
luck1538
prognosticate1541
preamble1548
proffer1548
presagition?c1550
foreshower1555
presage1560
portent1562
ostent1570
presagie1581
omen1582
presagement1586
luck sign1587
augury1588
prognosticon1588
forerunner1589
presager1591
halfner1594
spae1596
abode1598
oss1600
assign1601
augur1603
bodement1613
predictiona1616
prognosticala1618
bespeaker1624
portender1635
pre-indicant1659
foreshadow1834
boder1846
prognosticant1880
sky sign1880
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. D2v The wrongs of my youth, are the forerunners of my woes in age.
1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate 130 A convulsion..often-times is a fore-runner or a messenger of death.
1764 T. Harmer Observ. Passages Script. xvii. 42 A squall of wind and clouds of dust are the usual forerunners of these first rains.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 112 The famine and the pestilence which are usually the last outcome and not the forerunners of a siege.
4. Nautical.
a. A rope fastened to a harpoon. Cf. foreganger n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > rope or line > attached to harpoon
forerunner1694
striking-line1827
short-warp1851
warp1897
1694 Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) ii. 158 The first of them is ty'd to the Fore-runner, or small Line.
b. A rope rove through a single block on the foremast.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > rope for hoisting rigging
girt-line1769
forerunner1805
gantline1840
1805 in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. 189 (note) Got forerunners and tackles forward to secure foremast.
c. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1815 W. Burney Falconer's New Universal Dict. Marine (rev. ed.) Fore-runner of the log-line, a small piece of red buntin, laid into that line at a certain distance from the log.
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 106 Fore-runner, a piece of rag, terminating the stray-line of the log line.
Derivatives
ˈforeˌrunnership n. the condition or dignity of a forerunner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > going first or in front > [noun] > one who goes first > condition of
forerunnership1881
1881 A. B. Bruce Chief End Revel. vi. 300 This fore~runnership of Christ.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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