Synonyms of the word

predecessor

• n. One who precedes; one who has preceded another in any state, position, office, etc.; one whom another…
• n. A model or type of machinery or device which precedes the current one. Usually used to describe an earlier,…
• n. (mathematics) A vertex having a directed path to another vertex.

forerunner

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

precursor

• n. That which precurses, a forerunner, a predecessor, an indicator of approaching events.
• n. (chemistry) One of the compounds that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound.