antecedent

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˌæntiˈsiːdənt/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˌæntəˈsidnt/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(an′tə sēdnt)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
an•te•ced•ent /ˌæntəˈsidnt/USA pronunciation  adj. 
  1. preceding;
    prior;
    coming before: an antecedent event.

n. [countable]
  1. something that comes or happens before another:Isolated skirmishes were antecedents of the war.
  2. antecedents, [plural]
    • ancestors:Where did your antecedents come from?
  3. Grammara word, phrase, or clause, usually a noun, that is replaced, usually later, by a pronoun or other substitute. Jane is the antecedent (of the pronoun she) in the sentence: Jane lost a glove and she is upset.
an•te•ced•ence, n. [uncountable]See -cede-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
an•te•ced•ent  (an′tə sēdnt),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. preceding; prior:an antecedent event.

n. 
  1. a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
  2. antecedents:
    • ancestors.
    • the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one's earlier life:Little is known about his birth and antecedents.
  3. Grammara 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 ofit. 
  4. Mathematics
    • the first term of a ratio;
      the first or third term of a proportion.
    • the first of two vectors in a dyad.
  5. Philosophy[Logic.]the conditional element in a proposition, as "Caesar conquered Gaul,'' in "If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.''
  • Latin antecēdent- (stem of antecēdēns) going before, present participle of antecēdere to antecede; see -ent
  • Middle French)
  • Middle English (1350–1400
an•te•ce•den•tal  (an′tə sē dentl),USA pronunciation adj.  an′te•cedent•ly, adv. 
    • 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged precursory, preexistent.
    • 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged precursor, forerunner, ancestor.
    • 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged subsequent.
    • 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged successor.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
antecedent / ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt/
  1. an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another
  2. 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
  3. the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other
  4. an obsolescent name for numerator1
  1. preceding in time or order; prior
'antecedent' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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