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antecedent Definition

ante·ced·ent (an′tə sēd'nt)

adjective

going or coming before in time, order, or logic; prior; previous; preceding

Etymology: ME & OFr < L antecedens, prp. of antecedere, antecede

noun

  1. any happening or thing prior to another
  2. anything logically preceding
  3. one's ancestry, past life, training, etc.
  4. Gram. the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers “man” is the antecedent of “who” in “the man who spoke”
  5. Logic the part of a conditional proposition that states the condition
  6. Math. the first term or numerator of a ratio

antecedent Related Forms

an′te·ced·ently adverb

antecedent Synonyms

antecedent

modif.

antecedent Synonyms

antecedent

n.

antecedent Usage Examples

Preposition: of

pronoun: The context of Acts 14:23 indicates that only Barnabas and Paul ( the antecedents of the pronoun they ) were involved in the choosing.

Converse of object

  • trace: He traces the antecedents of this; an alien style, contemporary dance, was imposed which led to confusion in the muscles.
  • examine: Or it may take the form of examining the demographic antecedents of the characteristics in question.
  • know: And yet in this instance, I may not at all know the causal antecedents of the appearances in question.
  • have: He admits to having Irish antecedents or cousins far removed.
  • find: Of course, one can find neo-platonic antecedents to these intuitions, at least to the first of them.
  • give: Given the literary antecedents of the area the choice wasn't all that bad.

Adjective modifier

  • causal: EITHER What causal antecedents does an intentional action have to have?
  • historical: Much of today's mathematical pedagogy derived from distant historical antecedents.
  • obvious: Note that the most obvious antecedent for " this " is Jesus Christ.
  • true: In that case, there is no ambiguity in calling conditionals with true antecedents ` true ' or ` false ' .
  • common: Acquired equivalence between cues trained with a common antecedent.
  • political: David Hoile and others have given valid reasons for suggesting that the Levelers were the political antecedents of present day libertarians.

Modifies a noun

  • poliomyelitis: Evidence of remote denervation consistent with antecedent poliomyelitis was demonstrated in all patients by electromyography or muscle biopsy or both.
  • strengthening: The following is an example where ` antecedent strengthening ' seems to fail.
  • probability: For Swinburne, who in his works often discusses this antecedent probability, this accords with his predictability criterion.
  • recovery: Assets in such cases might consist of antecedent recoveries, income payments orders, aging book debts or equity in the matrimonial home.
  • task: In the figure below, the inquiry's antecedent task is the action.
  • breach: The present trustees shall thereupon be discharged but without prejudice to their liability for any antecedent breach of trust.

Noun used with modifier

quantifier: It is widely held that in such cases, the pronouns function semantically as variables bound by their quantifier antecedents.

Browse dictionary entries near antecedent

  1. antecedency
  2. antecedence
  3. antecede
  4. antebellum
  5. anteater
  6. ante-
  7. ante meridiem
  8. ante-bellum
  9. ante
  10. Antares
  1. antecessor
  2. antechamber
  3. antechoir
  4. antedate
  5. antediluvian
  6. antefix
  7. antelope
  8. antemeridian
  9. antemortem
  10. antenatal