antecedent

[ an-tuh-seed-nt ]
/ ˌæn təˈsid nt /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR antecedent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

preceding; prior: an antecedent event.

noun

a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
antecedents,
  1. ancestors.
  2. the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one's earlier life: Little is known about his birth and antecedents.
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.
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.
Logic. the conditional element in a proposition, as “Caesar conquered Gaul,” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”

Origin of antecedent

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin antecēdent- (stem of antecēdēns) going before, present participle of antecēdere to antecede; see -ent

OTHER WORDS FROM antecedent

an·te·ce·den·tal [an-tuh-see-den-tl] /ˌæn tə siˈdɛn tl/, adjective an·te·ced·ent·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH antecedent

antecedence antecedents

Words nearby antecedent

anteater, antebellum, antecede, antecedence, antecedency, antecedent, antecedents, antecessor, antechamber, antechapel, antechoir

Words related to antecedents

ancestor, ancestry, blood, descent, extraction, genealogy, line, progenitor, stock, antecessor, forebears, primogenitor

Example sentences from the Web for antecedents

British Dictionary definitions for antecedents (1 of 2)

antecedents
/ (ˌæntɪˈsiːdənts) /

pl n

ancestry
a person's past history

British Dictionary definitions for antecedents (2 of 2)

antecedent
/ (ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt) /

noun

an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another
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
logic the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other
maths an obsolescent name for numerator (def. 1)
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

preceding in time or order; prior
See also antecedents

Medical definitions for antecedents

antecedent
[ ăn′tĭ-sēd′nt ]

n.

A precursor.