forerunner

IPA: fˈɔrʌnɝ

A runner at the front or ahead.
(sports) By extension, a non-competitor who leads out the competitors on to the circuit, or who runs/rides the course prior to competitor trials, usually testing or checking the way.
A precursor or harbinger, a warning ahead.
A forebear, an ancestor, a predecessor.
(philately) A postage stamp used in the time before a region or area issues stamps of its own.

Examples of "forerunner" in Sentences

A forerunner is the Gold Class Cinema that Village Roadshow opened in Australia in 2000.
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
The Iron Heel by Jack London (1907) has been described as a forerunner to the “soft” science fiction of the 1960s and 70s.
For me I use nokia sports tracker and my N95 8gb with its GPS for location, speed etc, but a garmin forerunner for heart rate.
“Red Eyebrows”, a contemporary agrarian rebel group sometimes described as the forerunner of secret societies and underworld gangs such as the Triads.
Just launched, the new Francis collection is inspired by the Biedermeier style 1850s whose geometric shape is often described as the forerunner of modern furniture.