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The precursor and the predecessor. What's the difference?



Wherefor does this section called 'body' must have been filled out by the 30 words? it should help people to perceive the simple questions like this a bit better? -there's close to 30 words. at any rate, you may correct my harsh language. :D



Answer



They are synonyms, with a few caveats. Predecessor is usually a person, though not always. Also in many sciences, especially chemistry and biology, precursor has a specific meaning of "required to make."


For some examples, I think you're more likely to hear "He outshone his predecessor" than "He outshone his precursor." You're more likely to hear "Acetone is a common precursor of many compounds" than "Acetone is a common predecessor of many compounds."


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