antecedent

(ăn'tĭ-sēd'nt)
adj.
Going before; preceding.

n.

1. One that precedes another.
2. 1. A preceding occurrence, cause, or event. See synonyms at cause.
   2. antecedents The important events and occurrences in one's early life.
3. antecedents One's ancestors.
4. Grammar. The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to, as the children in The teacher asked the children where they were going.
5. Mathematics. The first term of a ratio.
6. Logic. The conditional member of a hypothetical proposition.

antecedently an'te·ce'dent·ly adv.

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adjective

1. Going before: advance, anterior, earlier, precedent, preceding, previous, prior. See precede/follow.
2. Just gone by or elapsed: anterior, earlier, foregoing, former, past, precedent, preceding, previous, prior. See time.

noun

1. One that precedes, as in time: ancestor, forerunner, precursor, predecessor, progenitor. See precede/follow.
2. That which produces an effect: cause, occasion. See start/end.
3. A person from whom one is descended: ancestor, ascendant, father, forebear, forefather, foremother, mother, parent, progenitor. Archaic predecessor. See kin, precede/follow.

adj

Definition: prior
Antonyms: after, following

Prior to, before, as in antecedent drainage patterns. For example, the creation of the incised valley of the Wind River, Wyoming, may be due to the river being older than the dome it cuts through, so that river erosion kept pace with the uplift of the Owl Creek Range. Antecedent moisture is the amount of moisture already present in the soil before a specified rainstorm.

IN BRIEF: n. - A word or phrase that is replaced with a pronoun or other substitute in later references.

Tutor's tip: A legal system is built upon "antecedence" (precedence), while grandparents are the "antecedents" of their grandchildren.

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A precursor.

• plasma thromboplastin a. — PTA; clotting factor XI. See plasma thromboplastin antecedent.

For a list of words related to antecedent, see:

• Logic - antecedent: conditional element in proposition
• Grammar and Usage - antecedent: substantive that is replaced by pronoun, usu. later in same or subsequent sentence
• Order, Hierarchy, and Systems - antecedent: conditional element in proposition

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See words rhyming with "antecedent."

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - antecedens, korrelat
adj. - forudgående, på forhånd givet

Nederlands (Dutch)
voorafgaand, iets voorafgaands, antecedent, voorgaande term, vermoedelijk,

Français (French)
n. - (Ling, Math, Philos) antécédent, antécédents, passé de qn
adj. - antérieur, antécédent, précédent

Deutsch (German)
n. - Beziehungswort, Prämisse, (math.) Vorderglied, früherer Umstand, vorangegangenes Ereignis, Vorläufer
adj. - vorausgehend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (το) προηγούμενο, (γραμμ.) ηγούμενο, λέξη στην οποία αναφέρεται αντωνυμία
adj. - πρότερος, προηγούμενος, προγενέστερος

Italiano (Italian)
precedente, anteriore, antecedente

Português (Portuguese)
n. - antecedente (m) (Gram.), antepassado (m)
adj. - anterior, precedente, antecedente

Русский (Russian)
предшествующий

Español (Spanish)
n. - antecedente
adj. - antecedente, que antecede

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - föregångare, korrelat
adj. - föregående, tidigare

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
前事, 前情, 前项, 先行词, 前件, 在先的, 在前的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 前事, 前情, 前項, 先行詞, 前件
adj. - 在先的, 在前的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 앞선 사건, 경력, 조상
adj. - 선행적인, 가정의

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 先立つ, 優先する, 推定的な
n. - 先行する人, 先行詞, 前項, 素性, 先祖

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سابق, سالف, متقدم (صفه) الحد الأول للنسبه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שם קודם, מקרה קודם, מילה או חלק משפט הבאים לפני מילה המתייחסת אליהם, חלק הרישא של משפט תנאי‬
adj. - ‮בא לפני, קודם, משוער מראש‬

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