1. Preceding in time or order
   "The antecedent events led to the current situation"

1. A preceding occurrence, cause or event
   "The antecedent to the war was a series of diplomatic failures"
    
2. Anything that precedes something similar in time
   "phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience";
   - forerunner
    
3. Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
   "She traced her family tree and discovered an antecedent who came to America in the 1700s";
   - ancestor, ascendant, ascendent, root
    
4. The referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun
   "In the sentence 'John lost his keys,' 'John' is the antecedent of 'his'"

Derived forms: antecedents

See also: anterior, anticipatory, preceding, preexistent, pre-existent, preexisting, pre-existing, prevenient, prior

Type of: cause, flesh and blood, referent, relation, relative, temporal relation

Antonym: subsequent

Encyclopedia: Antecedent