1. Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
   - ancestor, ascendant, ascendent, root 
2. A preceding occurrence or cause or event 
3. Anything that precedes something similar in time
   "phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience"
   - forerunner 
4. The referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun

1. Preceding in time or order

Derived forms: antecedents

See also: antecede, antecedency, antecedently, 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

• anthropocentric
• anthropocentricity
• anthropocentrism
• anthropogenesis
• anthropogenetic
• anthropogenic
• anthropogeny
• anthropoid
• anthropoid ape
• anthropoidal
• Anthropoidea
• anthropolatry
• anthropological
• anthropologically
• anthropologist
• anthropology
• anthropology department
• anthropometric
• anthropometrical
• anthropometry
• anthropomorphic
• anthropomorphise
• anthropomorphism
• anthropomorphite
• anthropomorphize