antecedent
antecedent
(æntɪsiːdənt )Word forms: plural antecedents
1. countable noun
An antecedent of something happened or existed before it and was similar to it in some way.
[formal]We shall first look briefly at the historical antecedents of this theory.
2. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
An antecedent thing or event happened or existed before another related thing or event.
[formal]It was permissible to take account of antecedent legislation.
3. countable noun [usually plural]
