antecedent

[an-tuh-seed-nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR antecedent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

preceding; prior: an antecedent event.

noun

a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.

antecedents,

ancestors.
the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one's earlier life: Little is known about his birth and antecedents.

Grammar. a word, phrase, or clause, usually a substantive, that is replaced by a pronoun or other substitute later, or occasionally earlier, in the same or in another, usually subsequent, sentence. In Jane lost a glove and she can't find it, Jane is the antecedent of she and glove is the antecedent of it.

Mathematics.

the first term of a ratio; the first or third term of a proportion.
the first of two vectors in a dyad.

Logic. the conditional element in a proposition, as “Caesar conquered Gaul,” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”

Origin of antecedent

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin antecēdent- (stem of antecēdēns) going before, present participle of antecēdere to antecede; see -ent

Related formsan·te·ce·den·tal

[an-tuh-see-den-tl] /ˌæn tə siˈdɛn tl/, adjectivean·te·ced·ent·ly, adverb

Can be confusedantecedence antecedents

Synonyms for antecedent

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR antecedent ON THESAURUS.COM

1. precursory, preexistent. 2. precursor, forerunner, ancestor.

Antonyms for antecedent

1. subsequent. 2. successor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for antecedently

earlier, sooner, then, already, formerly, heretofore, once, hitherto, previously, ahead, since, back, forward, along, advanced, before, onward, out, antecedently, beforehand

Examples from the Web for antecedently

Historical Examples of antecedently

I wish briefly to show that this was antecedently to have been expected.
The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper
Martin Farquhar Tupper
He must baptize none but those that antecedently have right.
A Christian Directory
Baxter Richard
We were created in the Son of Gods love, antecedently to our redemption by Him.
The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians
G. G. Findlay
It is antecedently true only if it can bring about these changes.
The pragmatic theory of truth as developed by Peirce, James, and Dewey
Delton Loring Geyer
But who could know, antecedently to experience, whether there was a reason or not?
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive
John Stuart Mill

British Dictionary definitions for antecedently

antecedent

noun

an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another

grammar a word or phrase to which a pronoun refers. In the sentence "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," people is the antecedent of who

logic the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other

maths an obsolescent name for numerator (def. 1)

denying the antecedent logic the fallacy of inferring the falsehood of the consequent of a conditional statement, given the truth of the conditional and the falsehood of its antecedent, as if there are five of them, there are more than four: there are not five, so there are not more than four

adjective

preceding in time or order; prior

antecedent

late 14c. (n. and adj.), from Old French antecedent (14c.) or directly from Latin antecedentem (nominative antecedens), present participle of antecedere "go before, precede," from ante- "before" (see ante) + cedere "to yield" (see cede). Used as a noun in Latin philosophical writings.

antecedently in Medicine

antecedent

[ăn′tĭ-sēd′nt]

n.

A precursor.