Forerunner
Pronunciation : Fore*run"ner
Part of Speech : n.
Definition : 1. A messenger sent before to give notice of the approach of others; a harbinger; a sign foreshowing something; a prognostic; as, the forerunner of a fever. Whither the forerunner in for us entered, even Jesus. Heb. vi. 20. My elder brothers, my forerunners, came. Dryden.
2. A predecessor; an ancestor. [Obs.] Shak.
3. (Naut.)
Defn: A piece of rag terminating the log line.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913