antecedent
/ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt/
antecedent adjective: earlier, either in time or in order.
Adjective
antecedent (not comparable)
- Earlier, either in time or in order.
- an antecedent cause
- an event antecedent to the Biblical Flood
- Synonyms:
- precedent, predecessive, preceding
- Antonyms:
- successive
- Presumptive.
- an antecedent improbability
Noun
antecedent (plural antecedents)
- Any thing that precedes another thing, especially the cause of the second thing.
- An ancestor.
- The Boston agent added that this clerk was a young man of wholly unquestioned veracity and reliability, of known antecedents and long with the company.1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 3, in The Whisperer in Darkness
- Synonyms:
- ascendant, ascendent, forebear, forefather, forerunner, predecessor, progenitor
- A word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun or other pro-form.
- [W]hereas it might seem orderly that, as who is appropriated to persons, so that should have been appropriated to things […] the antecedent of that is often personal1926, H. W. Fowler, “that rel. pron.”, in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, reprint of the first edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, published 2002, →ISBN, page 634, column 2
- One such condition can be formulated in terms of the c-command relation defined in (9) above: the relevant condition is given in (16) below:
(16) C-COMMAND CONDITION ON ANAPHORS
An anaphor must have an appropriate c-commanding antecedent1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 117
- The conditional part of a hypothetical proposition, i.e. p→q, where p is the antecedent, and q is the consequent.
- The first of two subsets of a sequent, consisting of all the sequent's formulae which are valuated as true.
- The first term of a ratio, i.e. the term a in the ratio a:b, the other being the consequent.
- Previous principles, conduct, history, etc.
antecedent meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
antecedent in Hindi
- earlier in time or order
- पूर्ववर्ती pūrvavartī, पूर्वगामी pūrvagāmī
- any thing that precedes another thing
- पूर्ववृत्त pūrvavŕtt, पूर्ववर्त्ती pūrvavarttī, पूर्ववृत्तांत pūrvavŕttānt
- word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun
- पूर्ववर्त्ती pūrvavarttī
- conditional part of a hypothetical proposition
- पूर्ववर्त्ती pūrvavarttī
antecedent in Tamil
- முந்திய நிகழ்ச்சி, முன்நிகழ்ச்சி, முன்மை, முன்னிகழ்ச்சி, முன்னுறுப்பு, முன்னோடி
antecedent in Urdu
- سابق
antecedent in Bengali
- পূর্ববর্তী ঘটনা, পূর্বপদ
More languagesFewer languages
- antecedent in Malayalam
- പൂർവ്വികൻ, പൂർവ്വഗാമി, പിതാമഹൻ, മുൻഗാമി
- antecedent in Kannada
- ಮೊದಲಿರುವುದು, ಪೂರ್ವಭಾವಿಯಾಗಿರುವುದು, ಹಿಂದಿನದು, ಮೊದಲಿನದು
- antecedent in Tagalog
- nauna
- antecedent in Malay
- sebelum, keturunan, anteseden
- antecedent in Vietnamese
- tiền bối
Examples of antecedent in a sentence
- Such development was not de novo; antecedents are apparent.
- Tregarvon knew nothing of this man's antecedents; of the forehistory of any of them, for that matter.
- In (26b), the antecedent of the empty element is in a non-0-position, so the empty element is trace.
Synonyms of antecedent
- precedent
- predecessive
- preceding
- precursor
- ascendant
- ascendent
- forebear
- forefather
- forerunner
- predecessor
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of antecedent
| plural | antecedents |
|---|
Origin of antecedent
From Middle English antecedent, borrowed from Old French antecedent, from Latin antecēdēns (“going before”), from antecēdō (“to precede; excel; surpass”).
Words formed from antecedent
Phrases with antecedent
Words that rhyme with antecedent
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- ascent
- rent
- resent
- scent
- absent
- augment
- cement
- content
- extent
- fragment
- lent
- prevent
- anent
- consent
- dent
- dissent
- percent
- relent
- spent
- Tashkent
- tent
- accent
- circumvent
- convent
- discontent
- intent
- invent
- went
- %
- assent
- dement
- ferment
- foment
- gent
- Gwent
- incent
- lament
- malcontent
- reinvent
- stent
- underrepresent
- attent
- big tent
- blent
- detent
- diapertent
- djent
- ent
Questions about antecedent
- What does antecedent mean?
- Antecedent means earlier, either in time or in order.
- What is antecedent in Hindi?
- Antecedent in Hindi is पूर्ववर्ती (pūrvavartī), पूर्वगामी (pūrvagāmī), पूर्ववर्त्ती (pūrvavarttī). See Antecedent meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is antecedent?
- Antecedent can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce antecedent?
- Antecedent is pronounced /ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt/.
Words near antecedent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: antecedent (page history and authors); antecedent (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); antecedent (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); antecedent (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); antecedent (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); antecedent (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
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Cite this entry: “antecedent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/antecedent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.