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preceding; prior:
an antecedent event.
a preceding circumstance, 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 pronoun or other substitute 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.”.
Contemporary Examples

The SUVs, coupes, and sedans that populate dealer showrooms are much greener than their antecedents.
Farewell to the Gas Station: The Demise of a Car-Culture Icon Daniel Gross May 4, 2013

These examples of art bleeding into marketing have antecedents, of course.
Art and High Commerce Anthony Haden-Guest December 9, 2009

Historical Examples

But who she was or what were her antecedents nobody in the Principality of Monaco could ever tell.
Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo William Le Queux

It cannot be denied, then, that men’s motives are the results of antecedents.
Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics William Thomas Thornton

This conviction is deepened by the antecedents of the present unhappy war.
New York Times, Current History, Vol 1, Issue 1 Various

Not a syllable had reached that country of her antecedents or fame.
Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8) Various

Of Whig antecedents, his first vote was cast for Henry Clay, in 1844, for president.
Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men Various

She described the antecedents and characteristics of Lorenz.
Olive in Italy Moray Dalton

They allowed me no more in the way of antecedents than if I had been a new creation on the day when I first met Mrs. Rossiter.
The High Heart Basil King

I’ve looked the girl’s antecedents up since that day on the Hills.
Janet of the Dunes Harriet T. Comstock

plural noun
ancestry
a person’s past history
noun
an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another
(grammar) a word or phrase to which a pronoun refers. In the sentence “People who live in glass 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.