Etymograph

English

precursor

Precursor comes from Latin praecursor ‘forerunner, vanguard’, from praecurrō ‘to run before’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥séti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzō1‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrō1‘to run’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecurrō1‘to run before’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecursor2‘forerunner, vanguard’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600precurseur2uncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500precursour2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2013precursor2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin praecursor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English precursor
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, -October, In the News: “Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, Latin praecursor‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sétiWiktionary, Latin praecursorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzōWiktionary, Latin praecursor‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrōWiktionary, Latin praecursor‘to run’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecurrōWiktionary, Latin praecursor‘to run before’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecursorWiktionary, English precursor‘forerunner, vanguard’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600precurseurWiktionary, English precursoruncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500precursourWiktionary, English precursor
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2013precursorWiktionary, English precursor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, -October, In the News: “Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

charge, carry, career, rush, carrier, cargo, hurry, carriage, occurrence, intercourse, chariot, carousel, caricature, recourse, 40 more

through Proto-Italic *korzō ‘to run’

corridor, discourse, courier, concurrent, recurrent, 22 more

through Latin currō ‘to run’

course, current, occur, currency, curriculum, incur, concur, 31 more

Today it means

noun That which precurses: a forerunner, predecessor, or indicator of approaching events.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “precursor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin praecursor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / precursor

Shirt and support for this word