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preceding; prior:
an antecedent event.
a preceding circ-mstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
antecedents.

.
the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one’s earlier life:
little is known about his birth and antecedents.

grammar. a word, phrase, or clause, usually a substantive, that is replaced by a pr-noun or other subst-tute later, or occasionally earlier, in the same or in another, usually subsequent, sentence. in jane lost a glove and she can’t find it, jane is the antecedent of she and glove is the antecedent of it.
mathematics.

the first term of a ratio; the first or third term of a proportion.
the first of two vectors in a dyad.

logic. the conditional element in a proposition, as “caesar conquered gaul,” in “if caesar conquered gaul, he was a great general.”.
historical examples

i wish briefly to show that this was antecedently to have been expected.
the complete prose works of martin farquhar tupper martin farquhar tupper

it is antecedently true only if it can bring about these changes.
the pragmatic theory of truth as developed by peirce, james, and dewey delton loring geyer

to be sure, his people had once regarded the possibility of a resurrection as, to say the least of it, antecedently improbable.
the return of the prodigal may sinclair

they deny that there is any thing in the nature of man, antecedently to his act of willing, that possesses a moral character.
calvinistic controversy wilbur fisk

we were created in the son of g-ds love, antecedently to our redemption by him.
the expositor’s bible: ephesians g. g. findlay

with inexorable logic, each conclusion is deduced from what has been antecedently admitted as indisputable.
the jesuits, 1534-1921 thomas j. campbell

but who could know, antecedently to experience, whether there was a reason or not?
a system of logic: ratiocinative and inductive john stuart mill

but jews and gentiles were alike under moral obligation to its precepts, antecedently to the covenant made at sinai.
tracts on the sabbath various

the preliminary affirmation is not that miracles are impossible, but that they are antecedently incredible.
supernatural religion, vol. i. (of iii) walter richard c-ssels

it is not conceivable that anything ever will; success of arbitration, antecedently improbable, is demonstrably impossible.
the shadow on the dial, and other essays ambrose bierce

noun
an event, circ-mstance, etc, that happens before another
(grammar) a word or phrase to which a pr-noun refers. in the sentence “people who live in gl-ss houses shouldn’t throw stones,” people is the antecedent of who
(logic) the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by “if”, in a conditional statement: that which implies the other
(maths) an obsolescent name for numerator (sense 1)
(logic) denying the antecedent, the fallacy of inferring the falsehood of the consequent of a conditional statement, given the truth of the conditional and the falsehood of its antecedent, as if there are five of them, there are more than four: there are not five, so there are not more than four
adjective
preceding in time or order; prior

late 14c. (n. and adj.), from old french antecedent (14c.) or directly from latin antecedentem (nominative antecedens), present participle of antecedere “go before, precede,” from ante- “before” (see ante) + cedere “to yield” (see cede). used as a noun in latin philosophical writings.

antecedent an·te·ce·dent (ān’tĭ-sēd’nt)
n.
a precursor.