THESAURUS
predecessor
ancestor, ancestors, announcer, antecedent, antecedents, ascendants, avant-garde, bellwether, buccinator, bushwhacker, elders, explorer, fathers, forebear, forebears, forefather, forefathers, foregoer, forerunner, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, grandfathers, grandparents, groundbreaker, guide, harbinger, herald, innovator, lead runner, leader, messenger, pathfinder, patriarchs, pioneer, point, precedent, precursor,
predecessor, predecessors, progenitors, prototype, scout, stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, vanguard, vaunt-courier, voortrekker
ROGET THESAURUS
predecessor
Precursor
N
precursor, antecedent, precedent,
predecessor, forerunner, vancourier, avant-coureur, pioneer, prodrome, prodromos, prodromus, outrider, leader, bellwether, herald, harbinger, foreboding, dawn, avant-courier, avant-garde, bellmare, forelooper, foreloper, stalking-horse, voorlooper, voortrekker, prelude, preamble, preface, prologue, foreword, avant-propos, protasis, proemium, prolusion, proem, prolepsis, prolegomena, prefix, introduction, heading, frontispiece, groundwork, preparation, overture, exordium, symphony, premises, prefigurement, omen, precursory, prelusive, prelusory, preludious, proemial, introductory, prefatory, prodromous, inaugural, preliminary, precedent, a precedent embalms a principle.