predictor

Etymology

predict + -or

noun

1. Something that anticipates, predicts, or foretells.
   The rainfall in April is a predictor for the number of mosquitoes in May.
   The predictor in the traffic-light control circuit tries to figure out how fast to change the lights.
2. A predictor variable.
3. (rare) One who predicts.
   THE only individual in this great city who has had a really easy time is the weather predictor; his only task from day to day has been to announce rain and gales, and through it all he has readily ranked as a prophet with honor in […] 1900, Fur Trade Review Weekly, volume 28, page 223
   And I look at, for example, on Weather Service, and thinking only in my lifetime, the evolution of how we have come on Weather Service, where we have been able to get down to that regional level, where people, if you talk to them in communities, I mean, maybe it is not such a bad idea that they think that their local weatherperson is the weather predictor. 2009, Expanding Climate Services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Developing the National Climate Service: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, May 5, 2009 (Serial No. 111-24), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, page 79
   So if a prophet isn’t primarily a future predictor, what is a prophet? 2015, Thomas Calnan Sorenson, Liberating the Bible: A Pastor’s Guided Tour for Seeking Christians, Archway Publishing