precedent

A precedent is an act or decision that serves as a guide for future situations with similar circumstances.

For example, the first U.S. president, George Washington, set a precedent when he limited himself to only two terms as president, and presidents ever since (with the exception of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) have followed that precedent—meaning they have done the same thing.

Precedent is especially used in a legal context, in which it refers to a past court decision or judicial ruling that can be used as a guideline for decisions in similar cases. In this context, precedent often refers collectively to all previous decisions relevant to the case. This sense of the word is used without the articles a or the, as in This ruling was based on precedent. 

Typically, lower courts (such as a state trial court or a U.S. district court) will look at decisions made by higher courts (such as a state supreme court or a U.S. court of appeals) to use as judicial precedent. Basing judicial decisions on precedent is intended to make them more objective or impartial due to not being based on a single personal opinion. Still, decisions are not required to be made based on precedent. Judges may break precedent or go against precedent in certain cases. These phrases can also be used outside of a legal context.

In general, when something has never been done or has never happened before, it can be described as without precedent. The word unprecedented means the same thing.

Much less commonly, precedent can be used as an adjective that means the same thing as preceding (which is much more commonly used).

Example: If we make this a holiday, we’ll set a precedent that our employees will expect us to follow every year.

The first records of the word precedent come from the 1300s. It ultimately comes from the Latin praecēdere, meaning “to go in front of” or “to go ahead of.” The noun sense of precedent is based on its earlier adjective use.

The word precedent starts with the word precede, meaning “to go before,” and precedents always involve things that have come before.

In law, precedent is usually created when several previous cases have resulted in the same decision—though a single decision can set a precedent.

The plural form precedents should not be confused with the noun precedence, which means the right to go before others.

What are some other forms related to precedent?

• precedentless (adjective)
• nonprecedent (noun, adjective)
• quasiprecedent (adjective)

What are some synonyms for precedent?

• model
• standard
• example
• criterion
• authority
• preceding
• anterior

What are some words that share a root or word element with precedent? 

• set a precedent
• precedence
• precede

What are some words that often get used in discussing precedent?

• set
• break
• go against
• decision
• judicial
• court
• ruling
• standard
• law

Precedent is especially used in the context of court rulings. But it’s also commonly used in a general way.

Alabama passed a virtually identical law that the courts blocked and now is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. An appeals court affirmed a lower court's decision to block the Alabama law — based on precedent — but practically begged the Supreme Court to review it. https://t.co/kB4NlY2m3s

— Brendan Kirby (@BrendanKKirby) April 26, 2019

The crown is asking for 12-15 months jail time for Michael Theriault in the assault of Dafonte Miller. Defence lawyer Michael Lacy calls that "completely divorced from legal precedent"

— Lorenda Reddekopp (@CBCLorenda) September 25, 2020

the iron man films set the precedent for marvel movies. without them I guarantee there wouldn't be as much success or hype over mcu

— 𝘳 (@mingivocals) August 18, 2016

Is precedent used correctly in the following sentence?

The judge broke with precedent by ruling in a way that contradicted previous decisions.