predecease

American  

[pree-di-sees] / ˌpri dɪˈsis /

verb (used with object)

predeceased, predeceasing

1. to die before (another person, the occurrence of an event, etc.).

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predecease British  

/ ˌpriːdɪˈsiːs /

verb

1. to die before (some other person)

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noun

1. rare earlier death

Etymology

Origin of predecease

First recorded in 1585–95; pre- + decease

Explanation

To predecease someone is to die before they do. If, tragically, your goldfish dies one week and your gerbil passes away the following week, you can say the fish predeceases the gerbil. While you can use this verb to talk about any person or animal's death — or even the death of your favorite houseplants — it's most common to describe one family member predeceasing another. It's devastating when a child predeceases his or her parents, or when one twin predeceases the other. This sixteenth century word uses the "before" prefix pre- and decease, from the Latin decessus, or "death."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

predecease predeceased predeceasing

The longer you wait, the more she could get as your widow should you predecease her in the future.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 17, 2025

After age 65, I am due $1,500 every month until I die, and if I predecease my husband, he will get the same until he dies.

From Slate ● Oct. 18, 2022

She was also at one time a beneficiary of the Cook Islands trust, albeit only in the unlikely event that Oesterlund and both of their two daughters happened to predecease her.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2016

Biden told the Colliers that no child should predecease their parents, and that better times are ahead.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2013

"I know I'm doomed, but Cavanagh stands to lose two thousand pounds—if I predecease Pardoe, and as he is only a poor devil of an artist—I'd like to improve his chances!"

From First Person Paramount by Pratt, Ambrose

The funeral director said they do not know about her personal circumstances other than that she had a twin brother who predeceased her.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

Five of her 10 children died in infancy, and both her husband and a grown daughter predeceased her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

You also need a contingency plan if something — God forbid — ever happened to your son and he predeceased you.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 21, 2026

He was predeceased by his wife, Olive Osmond, in 2004.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025

Sirius was the very last of the line as his younger brother, Regulus, predeceased him and both were childless.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

He knows to tell me each time we meet that “You’re still at 100%” in his projection of our likelihood of predeceasing our funds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

Ellin lived to be eighty-five, predeceasing him by a year.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 16, 2015

The two sovereigns made a reciprocal arrangement as to their rights and pretensions to the crown of Brittany, but in the event of Charles predeceasing her, Anne undertook to marry the heir to the throne.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

He left his whole property to his brother Sextus; or, in the event of his brother predeceasing him, to his brother's children.

From Miss Arnott's Marriage by Marsh, Richard

He was four times married, his three first wives dying shortly after marriage and the fourth predeceasing her husband by seven years.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various