antecedentn.
/ˌantᵻˈsiːd(ə)nt/, /ˈantᵻsiːd(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˌæn(t)əˈsid(ə)nt/ I. Technical senses.
1. Grammar. A word, phrase, or clause to which another refers back; spec. (a) one referred to anaphorically by a pro-form, as a noun by a following pronoun, or a full verb by a following pro-verb (for example English do); (b) the referent of a following relative pronoun or adverb, to which the relative clause stands in an attributive or adjective relation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > other grammatical categories or concepts > [noun] > types of grammatical reference > word referred to
antecedentc1400
supposite1585
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. iv. l. 364 Adiectif and substantif A-cordeþ in alle kyndes whit is [read with his] antecedent.
c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 179 The thrydde acorde in grammer is bytwene the relatyf and the antecedent.
1520 R. Whittington Uulgaria sig. A.iij The relatyue of substans shall accorde wt his antecedent.
1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. i. 47 If the relatiue must alwaies be referred to the antecedent of the same case, to agree with it in case,..there is no Greeke auctor whose workes are extant, but he hath committed Solœcisme.
1649 J. Goodwin Ὑβριστοδίκαι: Obstructours of Justice 135 So in that clause of mine..the Antecedent to the Relative [who] is the primitive word, Montanus, which is significantly enough implied..in that Derivative, or Possessive word Montanist.
1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge Learned Comm. Hebrewes (i. 10) i. 89 This relative Thou must have an Antecedent.
1702 H. Curson Theory of Sci. Illustr. 30 It is necessary also to supply all Ellipsis's, Antecedents, Defective Cases, One Verb applyed to divers Nom. Cases, or the same Nom. Case to divers Verbs, Subauditurs, &c.
1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. 128 The connexion of a personal pronoun with its antecedent is very different from that of a relative pronoun.
1848 J. de Laporte Fr. Gram. (ed. 3) 389 The subjunctive should be used here, in order to show, through its nominative, what is the antecedent of the verb venir.
1876 C. P. Mason Eng. Gram. (ed. 21) 51 In the nominative and objective cases, what is never preceded by an antecedent.
1904 C. T. Onions Adv. Eng. Syntax §62 Adjective Clauses are introduced by Relative Pronouns.., Relative Adjectives.., or Relative Adverbs.., referring to a noun or noun-equivalent called the Antecedent, expressed or implied in the Principal Clause.
1963 S. Nichols Words on Target viii. 86 Is there an obvious antecedent for every pronoun?
2005 P. W. Culicover & R. Jackendoff Simpler Syntax iv. 124 Mary will cook the potatoes for fifteen minutes in the morning, and Susan a. will do so for twenty minutes in the evening. [do so = cook the potatoes] b. will do so in the evening [do so = cook the potatoes for fifteen minutes]... The basic assumption behind the argument is that the antecedent of do so is a constituent.
2. Logic. A statement upon which a consequence logically depends. Opposed to consequent.
a. A premise in an argument.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > premise(s)
premisea1398
antecedenta1425
antecedencea1500
proposition1532
prepositions1647
premisala1651
hypothesis1656
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 41 Þes heretikes..maden þis truauntis argument: ȝif God biddiþ þat Y shal love my frend, he biddiþ bi contrarie witt þat Y shal hate myn enemye. But..þis sueþ al oonli whanne antesedent [c1425 Douce antecedent] and consequent ben convertiblis in kynde.
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 141 Now þan lete þe chirche of god graunte al þat folewiþ oute of þe antecedent aȝens which I argue here.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 62 The consequence is fals; nedes, the antecedent mot ben of the same condicion.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1324/1 You haue shewen vs the antecedent, now let us haue the Ergo.
1759 J. Brightland Gram. Eng. Tongue (ed. 8) Logic section, iii. xii. 285 There are two Things requir'd in a right Demonstration; first, that every Proposition of which it consists, consider'd separately, be true; the second, that..all the Consequences be contain'd in the Antecedents or Premisses.
1806 Orthodox Churchman's Mag. July 53 That the antecedent in the former syllogism is unfounded, Dr. Winchester's Dissertation affords irrefragable proofs.
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1860) III. xv. 281 The Antecedent comprises the two propositions, the one of which enounces the general rule.
1906 D. Macleane Reason, Thought, & Lang. xxvii. 448 We have not posited but sublated the antecedent.
2006 R. Arnold Logic of Fall iii. 27 In a three part (major premise, minor premise, plus conclusion) syllogism, when antecedents or premises are granted, the conclusion necessarily follows.
b. The part of a conditional proposition on which the other depends; the statement contained in the ‘if’-clause of a conditional proposition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > conditional or hypothetical proposition > antecedent or consequent of
antecedent1574
consequent1628
condition1864
the conditioned1864
1574 tr. P. Ramus Logike ii. i. 72 The proposition hathe two partes, the first is called the antecedent, the seconde the consequent: Of the which the qualities of propositions do ryse.
a1665 J. Goodwin Πλήρωμα τὸ Πνευματικόv (1670) viii. 207 Let the word Person in the Antecedent of the Proposition be supposed to signifie either something or nothing.
1697 tr. F. Burgersdijck Monitio Logica ii. xi. 48 If the Subject of the Consequent be put into the Antecedent, the Major is suppress'd.
1746 J. Wesley Princ. Methodist farther Explain'd 35 The Antecedent is false. Therefore the Consequent falls of course.
1770 in tr. C. von Wolff Logic vi. 87 The rule of the Ponent Mode is, that laying down the Antecedent, the Consequent is laid down of course.
1827 R. Whately Elem. Logic (ed. 2) ii. 110 The whole Proposition [sc. ‘If Cromwell was an Englishman, he was an usurper’], therefore, is false, though both Antecedent and Consequent are true.
1870 F. C. Bowen Logic v. 128 All Hypothetical Judgments obviously consist of two parts, the first of which is called the Condition or Antecedent.
1903 F. C. S. Schiller Humanism ix. 158 To argue that because one ground for a conclusion is unsound, the conclusion itself cannot be established, would evidently be nothing else than the familiar logical fallacy of denying the antecedent.
1966 L. H. Hackstaff Syst. Formal Logic iii. 124 The table shows that an implication holds whenever the consequent is true and whenever the antecedent is false.
2002 R. Mutti Making up your Mind iv. 37 The other kind of materially true conditional has a false antecedent.
c. The subject of a proposition. Somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [noun] > subject
subjectc1475
antecedent1628
subject-term1679
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 161 Ramus doth call the subiect, and the predicate..antecedent, and consequent: but very vnduely.
1656 T. Hobbes Elements Philos. in W. Molesworth Eng. Wks. T. Hobbes (1839) I. i. iii. 30 He that speaks it [sc. the proposition, ‘Man is a living creature’] conceives..that the former name, man, is comprehended by the latter name, living creature. Now the former name is commonly called the subject, or antecedent.
1891 E. J. Hamilton Modalist xix. 185 He could say, ‘A lion may be a carnivore.’.. In so doing he would use the antecedent ‘lion’ correctly.
2006 L. Strickland tr. G. W. Leibniz in Shorter Leibniz Texts i. 49 The predicate or consequent is always in the subject or antecedent... And indeed, in identities this connection and inclusion is always explicit.
3. Mathematics. The first of two numbers or magnitudes in a ratio. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > ratio or proportion > [noun] > numerical elements of
antecedent1570
consequent1570
proportional1570
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. v. f. 127 The first Terme, namely, that which is compared is called the antecedent.
1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epitomiz'd 14 In the Comparison of 7 to 3, 7 is named the Antecedent, and 3 the Consequent.
1864 J. S. Eaton Common School Arithm. 255 The antecedent, consequent, and ratio are so related to each other, that, if either two of them be given, the other may be found.
1901 Mind 10 41 When the greater is the antecedent, the relation is greater, when the less, less.
1997 J. Gullberg Mathematics iv. 110 The antecedent equals the ratio times the consequent.
4. Music. The leading voice or instrumental part in a canon.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > piece in specific form > [noun] > canon > part of
antecedent1837
1837 J. A. Hamilton tr. L. Cherubini Course Counterpoint & Fugue I. ii. xvi. 150 One part, called the Antecedent, proposes a melody or subject; on which another part, called the Consequent, repeats the same melody, after some rests, and at any interval, and continues in this manner to the end.
1869 F. A. G. Ouseley Treat. Counterpoint xv. 95 The leading part [in a Canon] is called the antecedent, the following part the consequent.
1938 Oxf. Compan. Music 135/1 The voice first entering with the melody in a canon is called Dux (‘leader’) or Antecedent.
2011 P. de Alcantara Integrated Pract. i. iv. 55 The antecedent ends in a half cadence—..which represents musical tension. The consequent ends in a perfect cadence..which represents musical release.
II. General senses.† 6. A person who walks in front of another, an usher. Cf. anteambulo n. Obsolete.
5. A thing or circumstance preceding another in time or order; often also implying a causal relation to something which follows (opposed to consequent).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [noun] > antecedent or precursor
forerunnerOE
forridelc1000
messengerc1300
precursora1500
waymaker1574
postiliona1586
ushera1586
precedence1598
vaunt-courier1598
precedent1599
prodromus1602
ante-disposition1611
precedency1611
prodrome1611
antecedent1612
antedating1633
leading card1635
prodromy1647
antecessor1657
precursorya1660
prodromist1716
morning star1721
skirmisher1820
antecursor1850
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 161 (MED) Is it to be seid þat he dooþ it wityngli and willyngli for þat he was wityng and willyng vpon þe antecedent of þis deede, which antecedent or precedent þis man knewe..wole lede him into þis deede?
1547 J. Wilkinson tr. Aristotle Ethiques xv. sig. C.vi The election is an antecedent vnto thentent.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i. 11) 223 That there may be full concent with it selfe, the antecedents and consequents.
1689 Qu.: Whether King, Lords & Commons be Legal Parl. 1 Consider the Antecedents to the calling the Convention.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 403 It is..the Necessary Antecedent..of a Sinner's Return to God.
1738 B. Langrish Mod. Theory & Pract. Physic (ed. 2) i. 34 Immoderate and violent Exercise is oftentimes an Antecedent to acute Fevers.
1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 118 Conscience is..the ground and antecedent of human (or self-) consciousness, and not any modification of the latter.
a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1869) III. iii. 130 Circumstances..governed by a long chain of antecedents.
1901 Practitioner Mar. 592 High pulse tension has been an invariable antecedent of the true rhythmical Cheyne-Stokes rise, fall, and suspension of the respiratory movement.
1933 Mind 42 111 The..view..that there must be radical discontinuity between the antecedents of a valid thought and a valid thought-product.
1999 S. Rushdie Ground beneath her Feet (2000) xvi. 485 This is an event in history, to be understood within time, as a phenomenon with certain linear antecedents, social, cultural, political.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > attendant or personal servant > [noun] > one who walks before his master
treader1552
apparitor1561
anteambulo1598
antecedent1608
anteman1638
1608 J. Day Humour out of Breath sig. C3 Boy. I say a seruingman is an Antecedent. Oct. Because he sits before a Cloakebag.
a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) ii. ii. 37 My Antecedent, or my Gentleman Usher.
7. In plural. The events of a person's (or an organization's, etc.) past, usually as affecting a present position.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > [noun] > a record > life or case history
lifeeOE
natural history1555
biography1806
antecedents1828
pedigree1852
case history1868
case study1914
1828 Standard 4 Feb. We cannot suppose that M. d'Hermopolis, with his antecedents, would persist in sitting in the cabinet.
1841 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) VI. 237 They will..sift what the French call their antecedents, with the most scrupulous nicety.
1854 T. De Quincey Selections ii. 86 What modern slang denominates his antecedents.
1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation §4. 111 Young fellows unacquainted with the antecedents of the estates.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Feb. 93/4 The high-pressure methods of the United States lobby-men, whose contacts and antecedents are open to inspection.
1998 in G. Treasure Who's Who in Brit. Hist. II. 963/2 His antecedents explain his defence of friars against seculars.
8.
a. A predecessor in a chain of development; an earlier form, a precursor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > [noun] > the first part or beginning > the earliest stage(s) > something in earliest stage > an earlier form of something
antecedent1834
1834 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. May 43 The doctrine of Broussais will not be more permanent than its antecedents... It is but a stepping-stone in the progress of theory.
1865 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Rationalism I. iii. 278 A wind instrument which some have placed among the antecedents of the organ.
1919 Dog Fancier Dec. 17/3 Thirty years ago their [sc. collies'] muzzles were shorter and heads of an altogether different stamp, of today's. Some think the antecedents of a breed should be forgotten or hushed up.
1964 Technol. & Culture Winter 34 The great fountain..which was certainly the first antecedent of the modern drug store fountain.
2004 Time Out N.Y. 1 Jan. 58/3 Antecedents to contemporary manga..extend back more than a millennium to the chojugiga, satiric scrolls drawn by Buddhist monks in the 6th century.
b. An ancestor, a forebear. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [noun] > ancestor
ancestorc1300
primitive1486
antecedent1851
1851 E. B. Browning Casa Guidi Windows i. viii. 20 We, who are the seed Of buried creatures, if we turned and spate Upon our antecedents, we were vile.
1891 M. E. Wilkins New Eng. Nun 43 Matilda's antecedents had been humble.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1288 We remember also how our antecedent, though not direct ancestor, Neanderthal Man, was for a time the crown of creation.
1969 J. R. Vitelli Van Wyck Brooks i. 21 His story is part of a larger one—that of his generation, of its antecedents, of its followers.
2004 S. Maconie Cider with Roadies xvi. 170 My mum had worked in cotton mills all her adult life, like most of her female antecedents.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
antecedentadj.adv.
/ˌantᵻˈsiːd(ə)nt/, /ˈantᵻsiːd(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˌæn(t)əˈsid(ə)nt/ A. adj.
1. That comes or goes earlier or in front; preceding in time, order, or position (often also implying a causal relation to something which follows); previous, pre-existing; spec. (a) Logic on which a consequence depends; (b) Grammar to which a relative refers back; (c) previous to observation or experience, presumptive, a priori.
a. Without construction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adjective]
ererc888
fernOE
oldOE
oldOE
formerc1160
ratherc1330
before-goingc1384
formerc1384
forenexta1400
formea1400
while1399
antecedentc1400
precedentc1400
anteceding?a1425
late1446
whilom1452
preceding?a1475
forne1485
fore1490
heretofore1491
foregoing1530
toforegoing1532
further1557
firster1571
then1584
elder1594
quondam1598
forehand1600
previant1601
preallable1603
prior1607
anterior1608
previal1613
once1620
previous1621
predecessivea1627
antecedaneous?1631
preventive1641
prior1641
precedaneous1645
preventional1649
antegredient1652
senior1655
prevenient1656
precedential1661
antecedental1763
past-gone1784
antevenient1800
aforetime1835
one-time1850
onewhile1882
foretime1894
erstwhile1903
antecedane-
ere-
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. iv. l. 382 Comune cleymeþ of a kyng..Lawe, loue, and leaute, and hym lord antecedent, Boþe here hefd and here kyng.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 311 Wiþoute goddis affermyngis maad to vs..vpon substancialy antecedent trouþis to hem in whiche þese ben formaly and substanciali includid and out of which informal argument þese folewen.
1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. i. ii. f. 67v/1 Apostemes..come sometymes, of a primityue cause, but for the moost parte of a cause antecedent.
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike i. viii. f. 43v Some adjuncts bee antecedent or going before.
1646 S. Bolton Arraignment of Errour 245 Whereuer the Antecedent duty was euer truly done, the consequent priviledge was never denied.
1669 J. Milton Accedence Commenc't Gram. in Compl. Wks. (1698) II. 867/1 A Relative..sometimes answers to an Antecedent Noun or Pronoun Primitive understood in the Possessive.
1695 S. Lobb Let. to Dr. Bates 21 An antecedent desert of hell, and a sinfulness so deserving (tho' not by an unremediable guilt).
1719 D. Waterland Vindic. Christ's Divinity 162 All the Christian Writers speak unanimously of a higher, antecedent Sonship.
1762 Ld. Kames Elem. Crit. (1833) ii. §5. 43 The emotions produced..may..be termed secondary, being occasioned either by antecedent emotions or antecedent passions, which in that respect may be termed primary.
1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. iii. iv. 329 The cause..assigned for the rejection of Christianity, by men of rank and learning among the heathens, namely, a strong antecedent contempt.
1818 T. Brown Inq. Relation Cause & Effect (ed. 3) i. iii. 79 There is one feeling that is consequent, and there was another feeling that was antecedent.
1841 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) VI. 275 Whose little finger was heavier than the loins of the antecedent tyranny.
1887 T. Fowler Princ. Morals ii. ix. 308 The actions of men, he [sc. Hobbes] holds, are, like all other events, determined, and determined wholly, by antecedent circumstances.
1917 Mil. Historian & Economist Jan. 29 So the sequel appeared to prove, and there were antecedent reasons for expecting as much.
1927 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 32 595 We can trace the gradual encroachment of the father family or patrilineal system over the generally antecedent system of maternal filiation and its eclipse by the former.
1951 ABA Jrnl. Feb. 91/3 (note) The antecedent case was 1876.
1970 M. R. Delany Blake ii. lxii. 266 No, Count Alcora, it is not this but something antecedent from which I draw my conclusions.
2007 C. Kerslake in J. Rehbein et al. Connectivity in Gram. & Disc. iv. 245 The presence in some Turkish post-nominal ‘relative’ clauses of an item that refers anaphorically to the antecedent noun phrase underlines the syntactic autonomy of these structures.
b. With to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adjective] > existent or existing > existing previously or subsequently
prejacenta1513
antecedent1565
pre-existent1597
pre-existing1599
post-existent1678
1565 N. Sanders Supper of Our Lord iv. f. 247 A word which is but once named..may be antecedent to the relatiue.
1638 W. Chillingworth Relig. Protestants i. ii. 70 Antecedent to the act of seeing.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iii. 76 This preparation..requires a competent mora, or time, antecedent to its complete and full constitution.
1704 J. Norris Ess. towards Theory Ideal or Intelligible World II. Pref. And the several Application of this middle Idea, to each of the Extreams, makes the two Propositions antecedent to the Conclusion, which accordingly we call Premises.
1745 J. Wesley Answer to Rev. Church 15 My Love to them was antecedent to any such Agreement.
1788 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 78 416 The Hejerà takes date from a date two months antecedent to this flight [sc. of Muhammed], namely, from the first day of Moharram.
1848 R. W. Hamilton Disq. Sabbath i. 18 The Sabbath..was antecedent to the Sinaic code.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 2 A period antecedent to all contemporary..records.
1916 H. W. Smyth Greek Gram. for Schools & Colleges ii. 564 The demonstrative pronoun antecedent to a relative is often omitted.
1957 P. Boehner tr. William of Ockham in E. Grant Source Bk. in Medieval Sci. (1974) 88/2 Likewise this rule is false, for the same reason: Whatever is antecedent to the consequent, is antecedent to the antecedent.
2000 B. A. Gerrish in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 644/1 Religion is something antecedent to beliefs and dogmas.
2. Physical Geography and Geology. Designating a stream, river, or drainage system that has persisted in the same course despite changes in topography.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [adjective] > other types
subsidiary1826
V-shaped1835
diaclinal1874
anaclinal1875
antecedent1875
cataclinal1875
consequent1875
superimposed1875
epigenetic1888
subsequent1889
insequent1897
oversteepened1900
re-entrant1901
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [adjective]
autogenetic1890
superposed1894
trellised1895
antecedent1927
radial1931
pinnate1932
1875 J. W. Powell Explor. Colorado River (Smithsonian Inst.) 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.
1927 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 38 207 Antecedent streams traverse this uplift through watergaps.
1970 R. 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.
2010 Jrnl. Coastal Res. 26 293/1 Barriers, shoals, and beaches..now partly occupy the antecedent river valleys.
B. adv.
With to. = antecedently adv. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adverb]
erea900
beforeeOE
forec1000
toforec1175
therebeforec1200
toforehand1258
forne toc1275
orc1275
andersitha1300
alreadyc1300
rather?1316
beforehandc1330
erstc1330
aforec1350
theretoforea1375
aforehanda1387
forthwitha1400
forwitha1400
or?a1400
ereward14..
toforetimec1400
aforetimes1429
aforetime1433
afore seasons1463
heretoforetime1481
forouth1487
aforrow?a1513
beforrow1568
paravant1590
antecedently1593
formerly1596
precedently1611
preveniently1633
preallably1652
previously1655
precedaneously1657
somewhiles1657
antecedaneously1661
aft1674
prior1675
anteriorly1681
antecedent1690
previous1712
priorly1742
1690 J. Parkinson Dialogue Divine Church of Eng. & Captain of Horse (single sheet) Any thing he did antecedent to what he calls a thorough Settlement.
1707 M. Tindal in Def. Rights Christian Church 35 And if a Power in the Apostles to appoint Successors, and those to appoint others to the End of the World, does not appear from any thing our Saviour had said to his Apostles antecedent to this Commission, [etc.].
1740 G. Turnbull Princ. Moral Philos. I. ii. ii. 294 To which question, the only proper answer is to ask, what circumstances in life happen antecedent to, or independent of all wrong exercises of human powers, affections and appetites.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. II. 294 The name was imposed antecedent to his birth.
1804 Earl of Lauderdale Inq. Nature & Origin Public Wealth ii. 100 The same proportion which existed antecedent to the increase of production.
1875 J. W. Powell Explor. Colorado River (Smithsonian Inst.) xi. 163 The drainage was established antecedent to the corrugation or displacement of the beds by faulting and folding.
1902 W. H. Fleming Shakespeare's Plots ii. 34 Events which have occurred antecedent to the action of the drama, and have been the cause of it, must be narrated in the Introduction.
1967 M. Hammond & A. Amory Aeneas to Augustus (ed. 2) i. xviii. 59 Pluperf[ect] because it denotes a potentiality which existed antecedent to the action of the perf[ect] ind[icative] finivit.
2008 M. R. Bennett & P. M. S. Hacker Hist. Cognitive Neuroscience ii. 50 But these platitudes..add nothing to what we knew antecedent to theory.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.c1400adj.adv.c1400