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Precursor vs Pioneer - What's the difference?

precursor | pioneer | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between precursor and pioneer

is that precursor is that which precurses, a forerunner, a predecessor, an indicator of approaching events while pioneer is one who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.

As a verb pioneer is

to go before and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer.

precursor

English

Alternative forms

* (chiefly obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • That which precurses, a forerunner, a predecessor, an indicator of approaching events.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= In the News , passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:
  • (chemistry) One of the compounds that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound.
  • Anagrams

    * ----

    pioneer

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.
  • A person or other entity who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-10
  • , author=Audrey Garric , title=Urban canopies let nature bloom , volume=188, issue=22, page=30 , magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) citation , passage=As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.}}
    Some people will consider their national heroes to be pioneers of civilization.
    Certain politicians can be considered as pioneers of reform.
  • (obsolete, military)   A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances; a sapper.
  • A member of any of several European organizations advocating abstinence from alcohol.
  • (Communism)   A child of 10–16 years in the former Soviet Union, in the second of the three stages in becoming a member of the Communist Party.
  • Derived terms

    * pioneer axon * Pioneer Day

    See also

    * (Pioneer movement)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To go before and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer.
  • Synonyms

    * push the envelope * break new ground