Precursor

Alternative forms

• præcursor chiefly obsolete

Origin

From Latin praecursor ("forerunner")

Full definition of precursor

Noun

1. That which precurses, a forerunner, a predecessor, an indicator of approaching events.
• 2013, Katie L. Burke, In the News, Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:.... The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.
2. (chemistry) One of the compounds that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound.

Anagrams

• procurers