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preexist

or pre-ex·ist

[ pree-ig-zist ]

/ ˌpri ɪgˈzɪst /

verb (used without object)

to exist beforehand.

to exist in a previous state.

verb (used with object)

to exist prior to (something or someone else); precede: primitive artifacts that preexisted sophisticated tools.

Origin of preexist

First recorded in 1590–1600; pre- + exist

OTHER WORDS FROM preexist

pre·ex·ist·ence, noun pre·ex·ist·ent, adjective

Words nearby preexist

preestablish, preestablished harmony, preexcitation, preexcitation syndrome, preexilian, preexist, preexposure, pref., prefab, prefabricate, preface

Example sentences from the Web for pre-existing

He noted that Khamenei had a pre-existing condition, but provided no further details.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s Cancer Scare |IranWire |September 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
First, the human recipients of the vaccine will not have pre-existing immunity to it.

Ebola Vaccine Will Do Little for Current Crisis |Kent Sepkowitz |August 28, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Most people—at least 95 percent of adults—have pre-existing antibody to measles.

Are Viruses the Next Cure for Cancer? |Kent Sepkowitz |May 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
To that end, Shumlin has proposed $10 million in spending between more money for pre-existing programs and the new legislation.

Heroin Threatens Vermont’s Rural Paradise |Matt Taylor |February 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

The issue can be complicated by a thaw followed by a freeze, or by pre-existing ice.

As de Blasio Loses Roker, Call In the Weather Detective |Michael Daly |February 14, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
If not a germ, what is this pre-existing vital something which their language implies?

Life: Its True Genesis |R. W. Wright
Moreover, the last operations of water have a tendency to disturb and confound together all pre-existing alluviums.

A Manual of Elementary Geology |Charles Lyell.
Smaller additions appear in the form of new sections incorporated in pre-existing chapters.

Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, June 1899 |Various
That style I conceive to have been compounded of all pre-existing styles.

Southern Spain |A.F. Calvert
Portions of it also disclose rounded masses of pre-existing rocks.

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820 |Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

British Dictionary definitions for pre-existing

pre-existing

adjective

occurring or existing previously

Derived forms of pre-existing

pre-existence, noun