Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FORE-RUN'NER, n.

1. A messenger sent before to give notice of the approach of others; a harbinger. My elder brothers, my forerunners came. Dryden.
2. An ancestor or predecessor. [Obs.]
3. A prognostic; a sign foreshowing something to follow. Certain pains in the head, back and limbs, are the forerunners of a fever.