# antecedent
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English antecedent, borrowed from Old French antecedent, from Latin antecēdēns (“going before”), from antecēdō (“to precede; excel; surpass”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt/
* Audio (Canada):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)

### Adjective

antecedent (not comparable)
* Earlier, either in time or in order.
    Synonyms: precedent, predecessive, preceding
    Antonym: successive
    an antecedent cause
    an event antecedent to the Biblical Flood
* Presumptive.
    an antecedent improbability

#### Derived terms

* antecedently
* antecedent phrase

#### Related terms

* antecede
* antecedence
* precedence

#### Translations
### Noun

antecedent (plural antecedents)
* Any thing that precedes another thing, especially the cause of the second thing.
* An ancestor.
** 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 3, in The Whisperer in Darkness: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.
* (grammar) A word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun or other pro-form.
** 1926, 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:[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 personal
** 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 117: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 antecedent
* (logic) The conditional part of a hypothetical proposition, i.e. $p\rightarrow q$, where $p$ is the antecedent, and $q$ is the consequent.
* (logic) The first of two subsets of a sequent, consisting of all the sequent's formulae which are valuated as true.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
* (mathematics) The first term of a ratio, i.e. the term a in the ratio a:b, the other being the consequent.
* (chiefly in the plural) Previous principles, conduct, history, etc.

#### Synonyms

* (something which precedes): precedent, precursor
* (an ancestor): ascendant, ascendent, forebear, forefather, forerunner, predecessor, progenitor

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “in logic”): consequent, (for sequents) succedent
* (antonym(s) of “in grammar”): anaphor

#### Holonyms

* See Thesaurus:argument form
* (in logic): conditional
* (in grammar): referent

#### Derived terms

* last antecedent rule

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### See also

* juxtaposition

### References

* “antecedent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from French antécédent, from Latin antecēdēns (“go before”), from antecēdere (“to go or come before”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɑn.tə.səˈdɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: an‧te‧ce‧dent
* Rhymes: -ɛnt

### Noun

antecedent n (plural antecedenten, diminutive antecedentje n)
* antecedent (thing that precedes; prior fact, background fact)
* (linguistics) antecedent (referent of a word, esp. of a pronoun)
* (logic) antecedent (condition part of a proposition)

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “logic”): (consequent)
* (antonym(s) of “linguistics”): (anafoor)

## Latin
### Verb

antecēdent
* third-person plural future active indicative of antecēdō

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French antécédent, from Latin antecedens.

### Adjective

antecedent m or n (feminine singular antecedentă, masculine plural antecedenți, feminine and neuter plural antecedente)
* antecedent