| 释义 |
▪ I. antecedent, n.|æntɪˈsiːdənt|
[a. Fr. antécédent (see next), subst. use of the adj. Already in L. antecēdens was used subst. as a term of philosophy, and in this technical sense it first appeared in the modern languages.]
1. A thing or circumstance which goes before or precedes in time or order; often also implying causal relation with its consequent.
a. generally.
1612T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. ii (1619) That there may be full content with it selfe, the antecedents and consequents. c1680in Somers Tracts II. 548 Consider the Antecedents to the calling the Convention. a1716South (J.) It is..the necessary antecedent..of a sinner's return to God. 1824Coleridge Aids to Refl. (1848) I. 92 Conscience is the ground and antecedent of human (or self-) consciousness, and not any modification of the latter. a1862Buckle Civilis. (1869) III. iii. 130 Circumstances..governed by a long chain of antecedents.
Hence, in various special applications, of which the logical and grammatical are the earliest uses of the word in Eng.
b. Logic. (Opposed to consequent.) The statement upon which any consequence logically depends; hence † (a) The premisses of a syllogism (obs.); (b) The part of a conditional proposition on which the other depends. † (c) By some early logicians the subject and predicate were called antecedent and consequent.
c1400Test. Love ii. (1560) 284 b/1 The consequence is false, needes the antecedent mote beene of the same condition. c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. iii. 67 [I] grantis..þe Antecedens Bot I deny þe consequens. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 324/1 You have shewn us the antecedent, now let us have the ergo. 1628T. Spencer Logick 161 Ramus doth call the subiect, and the predicate..antecedent, and consequent: but very vnduely. a1665J. Goodwin Filled w. Spirit (1867) 191 Let the word person in the antecedent of the proposition be supposed to signify either something or nothing. 1870Bowen Logic v. 128 All Hypothetical Judgments obviously consist of two parts, the first of which is called the Condition or Antecedent.
c. Gram. (a) The noun to which a following pronoun refers, and to avoid the repetition of which it is used. (b) esp. The substantive (word, clause, or sentence) to which a relative pronoun or adverb points back, and to which the relative clause stands in an attributive or adjective relation.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 364 Adjectif and substantif Acordeþ in alle Kyndes · with his antecedent. 1523Whittinton Vulg. 2 The relatyue of substaunce shall accorde with his antecedent. 1655Gouge Comm. Hebr. i. 10 This relative ‘Thou’ must have an antecedent. 1765W. Ward Eng. Gram. 128 The connexion of a personal pronoun with its antecedent is very different from that of a relative pronoun. 1876Mason Eng. Gram. 51 In the nominative and objective cases, what is never preceded by an antecedent.
d. Math. The first of two numbers or magnitudes between which a ratio is expressed; the first and third in a series of four proportionals.
1570Billingsley Eucl. v. def. 3 The first Terme, namely, that which is compared, is called the antecedent. 1695W. Alingham Geom. Epit. 14 In the Comparison of 7 to 3, 7 is named the Antecedent, and 3 the Consequent. 1862Todhunter Euclid vi. iv, Those [sides] which are opposite to the equal angles are homologous sides, that is, are the antecedents or the consequents of the ratios.
e. Music. (See quot.)
1869Ouseley Counterp. xv. 95 The leading part [in a Canon] is called the antecedent, the following part the consequent.
2. pl. The events of a person's bygone history (usually, as affecting the postion now to be accorded him); also used of institutions, etc.
1841Gen. Thompson Exerc. VI. 237 They will..sift what the French call their antecedents, with the most scrupulous nicety. 1854De Quincey Selections ii. 86 What modern slang denominates his antecedents. 1864J. H. Newman Apol. 106 Froude and I were nobodies; with..no antecedents to fetter us. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Organ. §4. 111 Young fellows unacquainted with the antecedents of the estates.
3. concr. A predecessor in the chain of development; an earlier form. rare.
1865Lecky Rational. (1878) I. 254 A wind instrument which some have placed among the antecedents of the organ.
†4. lit. A person that walks in front; an usher, an anteambulo. Obs.
1608Day Hum. out of Br. ii. ii, Boy. I say a seruingman is an antecedent. Oct. Because he sits before a cloakebag. 1632Massinger City Madam ii. ii, My antecedent, or my gentleman-usher.
▪ II. antecedent, a.|æntɪˈsiːdənt|
[a. Fr. antécédent, ad. L. antecēdent-em, pr. pple. of antecēd-ĕre: see antecede.]
1. Going before, preceding, in time or order.
1543Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. 67 b/1 Apostemes..come sometymes of a primityue cause, but for the moost parte of a cause antecedent. 1588Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. viii. 43 b, Some adjuncts bee antecedent or going before. 1646S. Bolton Arraign. Errour 245 Whereuer the Antecedent duty was euer truly done, the consequent priviledge was never denied. 1830Coleridge Table T. 91 Even in dreams nothing is fancied without an antecedent quasi cause. 1841Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) VI. 275 Whose little finger was heavier than the loins of the antecedent tyranny.
b. with to (unto obs.).
1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. ii. 70 Antecedent to the act of seeing. 1745Wesley Answ. Ch. 15 My Love to them was antecedent to any such Agreement. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 2 A period antecedent to all contemporary..records.
c. quasi-adv.; = antecedently 1 b.
1774J. Bryant Mythol. II. 294 The name was imposed antecedent to his birth. 1804Lauderdale Publ. Wealth (1819) 95 The same proportion which existed antecedent to the increase of production.
2. ellipt. Previous to investigation; presumptive, à priori.
1794Paley Evid. iii. iv. §2 The cause..assigned for the rejection of Christianity by men of rank and learning among the Heathens, namely, a strong antecedent contempt. 1859Ecce Homo i. ii. 9 If..the antecedent improbability of miracles is much diminished. 1876Gladstone Hom. Synch. 271 The antecedent likelihood of Homer's possession of Egyptian knowledge.
Add:3. Physical Geogr. and Geol. Designating a river or a drainage pattern which has persisted despite deformation or uplift of the land surface; also, designating valleys formed by such rivers.
1875J. W. Powell Explor. Colorado River xi. 163, I have endeavoured..to explain the relation of the valleys of the Uinta Mountains to the stratigraphy..of the region, and, further, to state the conclusion reached, that the drainage was established antecedent to the corrugation or displacement of the beds by faulting and folding. I propose to call such valleys..antecedent valleys. 1927Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XXXVIII. 207 Antecedent streams traverse this uplift through watergaps. 1970R. J. Small Study of Landforms vii. 251 Theoretically.., examples of antecedent drainage should occur frequently, for earth-movements affecting land-areas do not always operate with great rapidity. |