antecedent

Antecedent describes something that happened before. (adjective)

An example of an event that would be antecedent is dinner before a movie.

An antecedent is a situation or event that occurred before. (noun)

An example of an antecedent is the car chase in a movie that leads to a dramatic crash.

An antecedent is a person who was born before you in your family. (noun)

An example of an antecedent is your grandmother.

An antecedent is a part of your life that happened in the past. (noun)

An example of an antecedent is the loss of your first tooth.

An antecedent is a part of a sentence that is later replaced by a pronoun. (noun)

An example of an antecedent is the word “John” in the sentence: “John loves his dog.”

See antecedent in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

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

noun

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

Related Forms:

See antecedent in American Heritage Dictionary 4

(ănˌtĭ-sēdˈnt)

adjective

Going before; preceding.

noun

One that precedes another.
a. A preceding occurrence, cause, or event. See Synonyms at cause.
b. antecedents The important events and occurrences in one's early life.
antecedents One's ancestors.
Grammar The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to, as the children in The teacher asked the children where they were going.
Mathematics The first term of a ratio.
Logic The conditional member of a hypothetical proposition.

Related Forms:

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» antecedent synonyms

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