From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpredecessorpre‧de‧ces‧sor /ˈpriːdəsesə $ ˈpredəsesər/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 BEFOREsomeone who had your job before you started doing it OPP successor Kennedy’s predecessor as president was the war hero Dwight Eisenhower.2 BEFOREa machine, system etc that existed before another one in a process of development OPP successor The new BMW has a more powerful engine than its predecessor.
Examples from the Corpus
predecessor• Peres now has endorsed a plan favored by his assassinated predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin, that calls for strict segregation.• Ramsey inherited a battle like this from his predecessor.• Vandenberg has been a more active director than his predecessor.• This was why the last recession budget, in March 1981, differed from its predecessors.• The new Corvette is only 1.2 inches longer than its predecessor.• The art owes much to its predecessor, kungfu, which was the root of its modern development.• As we have seen, pentecostalism has many predecessors.• This pessimistic extreme is as foolish as its optimistic predecessor.• Eighteen of Clinton's predecessors deserved to be ranked in the top three categories, Morris suggested.• Sally's predecessor had warned her about Nick, one of the company vice-presidents.• These new assistants are more intelligent than their predecessors.From Longman Business Dictionarypredecessorpre‧de‧ces‧sor /ˈpriːdəsesəˈpredəsesər/ noun [countable] formal1a person who was in a particular post or job before the person who is doing it nowProblems he inherited from his predecessor led to the bank’s later troubles.2a machine, system, etc that existed before another one that has developed from itThe new car will have a more aerodynamic shape than its popular predecessor.Origin predecessor (1300-1400) French prédécesseur, from Late Latin, from Latin decedere “to go away, leave your job” 