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Synonyms

antecedents

British  
/ ˌæntɪˈsiːdənts /

plural noun

  1. ancestry

  2. a person's past history

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

While going rather easy on King George, Ms. Worsley is dismayed by the strategy of her antecedents, whose tactics often seemed calculated to fan the sputtering flames of rebellion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

The current wave of activism, he observes, is not so different from its antecedents.

From Salon • May 2, 2024

Cheney’s new book, “Oath and Honor,” is a mostly straightforward, occasionally repetitive, literarily undistinguished account of that investigation as well as its antecedents and aftermath.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2023

“If I do something that shocks me or that I’m not proud of, I’m able to frame that behaviorally and sort of understand the antecedents, the behavior itself and then the consequence,” she said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 1, 2023

As for the antecedents of those events, how did Atahuallpa come to be at Cajamarca at all?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond