ANTECURS'OR, noun [Latin ante, before, and cursor, a runner, from curro, to run. See Course.] One who runs before; a forerunner. In the Roman armies, the antecursors were a body of horse detached to obtain intelligence, get provisions, etc., for the main body.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI