precede
Americanverb (used with object)
-
precedes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
preceded,
past participle, past
-
preceding
present participle
-
to go before, as in place, order, rank, importance, or time.
-
to introduce by something preliminary; preface.
to precede one's statement with a qualification.
verb (used without object)
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precedes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
preceded,
past participle, past
-
preceding
present participle
noun
verb
-
to go or be before (someone or something) in time, place, rank, etc
-
(tr) to preface or introduce
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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precedesimple
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precedessimple
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have precededperfect
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has precededperfect
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am precedingprogressive
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are precedingprogressive
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is precedingprogressive
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have been precedingperfect progressive
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has been precedingperfect progressive
Past
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precededsimple
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had precededperfect
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was precedingprogressive
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were precedingprogressive
-
had been precedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of precede
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English preceden, from Latin praecēdere; see pre-, cede
Explanation
To precede is to come before. A short speech will precede the dinner. As you walk down the garden path, the bed of roses precedes the holly bush. When marching into the room, the younger kids precede the older ones. Precede is one of many verbs ending in "-ceed" or "-cede" that trace their roots back to the Latin word cedere which means "to go." For precede, know that it's pre "first" + cedere "go." When you precede, you go first. You might precede your best friend in line, lunch might precede math class, a joke might precede a lecture, and radio preceded television. Anything that goes first or comes before precedes.
Vocabulary lists containing precede
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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ACT Vocabulary List
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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.
See Examples For:
Kroenke has not done the usual due diligence that would precede a sale — meeting with team management and touring the stadium — and has not introduced himself to officials from the city of Anaheim.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Research analysts are barred from joining investment bankers on the road shows that precede stock offerings.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The bank expects strong results for the remainder of the year, which should precede a 2027 earnings inflection that will be a standout in the automotive and luxury sectors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
"Preserving or stabilizing the MPS might offer a way to slow the early, hidden cellular changes that precede Alzheimer's symptoms."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
As to which came first, the malignancy or the disturbance of the chromosomes, these workers say without hesitation that “the chromosomal irregularities precede the malignancy.”
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Investors should care about this because active M&A volume frequently precedes major bear markets.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
His reputation as an exacting director precedes him.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
We need to stop thinking of college as a time to find oneself and recast it as a period of intellectual development that precedes our more formative mid- to late 20s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Inquests into the state of British tennis are not uncommon - especially after the clay-court French Open, which precedes Wimbledon.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Somewhere, a mockingjay gives the warning whistle that precedes the hovercraft.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Importantly, that’s above the level that preceded Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s surprise market intervention in mid-August.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
When she graduated, she released music steadily: A trio of EPs and a Live at the Jazz Cafe collection preceded her debut full-length in 2023.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Although it was neither a dinosaur nor a crocodile, it belonged to a lineage closely related to the forms that preceded the origin of these groups.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Several eyewitnesses were quoted by Russian media as saying gunfire preceded the explosion, indicating that air defences may have tried to shoot the drone down.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Yet, as Fiedel conceded to me, the collapse of the Clovis consensus means that archaeologists must consider unorthodox possibilities, including that some other people preceded the ancestors of today’s Indians into the Americas.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
But one which Gauff felt was unavoidable after hitting a high amount of double faults at the preceding Cincinnati Open.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
In the 10 months preceding the war, Iran's trade with the UAE totalled $21 billion according to official Iranian figures.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
In other words, the new fossil helps us understand a phase preceding the rise of dinosaurs and crocodiles, when their close relatives were still experimenting with different body shapes, postures, and modes of locomotion.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The British energy giant’s second-quarter adjusted earnings—a closely watched metric that strips out certain commodity price adjustments and one-time charges—rose to $9.84 billion from the $6.915 billion it reported for the preceding quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Unlike the negotiations preceding new dispensations in African states like Zimbabwe and Angola, which required outside mediators, we in South Africa were settling our differences among ourselves.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
