antecedent

[ an-tuh-seed-nt ]

adjective

1. preceding; prior:

   an antecedent event.

   Synonyms: preexistent, precursory

   Antonyms: subsequent

noun

1. a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.

   Synonyms: ancestor, forerunner, precursor

   Antonyms: successor

2. antecedents,
   1. ancestors.
   2. the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one's earlier life:

      Little is known about his birth and antecedents.

3. Grammar. a 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 of it.
4. Mathematics.
   1. the first term of a ratio; the first or third term of a proportion.
   2. the first of two vectors in a dyad.
5. Logic. the conditional element in a proposition, as “Caesar conquered Gaul,” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”

antecedent

/ ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt /

noun

1. an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another
2. grammar 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. logic the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other
4. maths an obsolescent name for numerator
5. denying the antecedent
   logic the fallacy of inferring the falsehood of the consequent of a conditional statement, given the truth of the conditional and the falsehood of its antecedent, as if there are five of them, there are more than four: there are not five, so there are not more than four

adjective

1. preceding in time or order; prior

Other Words From

• an·te·ce·den·tal [an-t, uh, -see-, den, -tl], adjective
• ante·cedent·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of antecedent¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin antecēdent-, stem of antecēdēns “going before,” present participle of antecēdere “to go before, precede, excel, surpass”; antecede

Example Sentences

Maybe the Satanic panic isn't even the best kind of antecedent, but rather the child abduction panic or the gang crime panic, where there is a real problem, but blown out of proportion.

From Salon

Maybe the closest antecedent is a new, $85 million HUD program called “Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing,” or PRO Housing, which this summer issued 17 grants of a few million dollars each.

From Slate

The man in black’s subtle “I wear this crown of thorns” lyric tweak felt like a serendipitous nod to the late Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone, the Pearl Jam antecedent whose best-known song was “Crown of Thorns.”

From Seattle Times

The antecedent to such change occurred in 2005, when the first Americans to buy a Premier League club — Malcolm Glazer and his sons, who owned the N.F.L.’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers — acquired control of Manchester United.

From New York Times

The politics of Arizona’s current justices bear little resemblance to the 19th century antecedent upon whom their ruling relies.

From Los Angeles Times