# forerunner

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #29,281

## Definitions
1. A runner at the front or ahead.
2. 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.
3. A precursor or harbinger, a warning ahead.
4. A forebear, an ancestor, a predecessor.
5. A postage stamp used in the time before a region or area issues stamps of its own.

## Etymology
From Middle English forrenner, foreriner. Calque of Latin praecursor (“one who runs before, a forerunner”). Equivalent to fore- + runner and/or forerun + -er.

## Common misspellings (13)
`fforerunner`, `foerrunner`, `forernuner`, `forerrunner`, `forerunenr`, `foreruner`, `forerunnerr`, `forerunnre`, `foreurnner`, `forrerunner`, `forreunner`, `froerunner`, `ofrerunner`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/forerunner