Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRE-CURS'OR, n. [L. præcursor, supra.]

A forerunner; a harbinger; he or that which precedes an event and indicates its approach; as, Jove's lightnings, the precursors of thunder. – Shak. A cloud in the southwest, in winter, is often the precursor of a snow storm. A hazy atmosphere in the west, at sunset, is often the precursor of a cloudy or of a rainy day. – United States. Evil thoughts are the invisible, airy precursors of all the storms and tempests of the soul. Buckminster.