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Antecedent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ANTECE'DENT, a. Going before in time; prior; anterior; preceding; as, an event antecedent to the deluge.
ANTECE'DENT, n. That which goes before in time; hence in writings, that which precedes in place. In grammar, the noun to which a relative or other substitute refers; as, Solomon was the prince, who built the Temple. In logic, the first of two propositions in an enthymeme, or argument of two propositions; as, if the sun is fixed, the earth must move. Here the first and conditional proposition is the antecedent; the second, the consequent.
In mathematics, the first of two terms of a ratio, or that which is compared with the other.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: preceding in time or order [ant: subsequent] n
1: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent) [syn: ancestor, ascendant, ascendent, antecedent, root] [ant: descendant, descendent]
2: a preceding occurrence or cause or event
3: anything that precedes something similar in time; "phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience" [syn: antecedent, forerunner]
4: the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin & Latin; Medieval Latin antecedent-, antecedens, from Latin, what precedes, from neuter of antecedent-, antecedens, present participle of antecedere to go before, from ante- + cedere to go Date: 14th century 1. a substantive word, phrase, or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun (as John in “Mary saw John and called to him”); broadly a word or phrase replaced by a substitute 2. the conditional element in a proposition (as if A in “if A, then B”) 3. the first term of a mathematical ratio 4. a. a preceding event, condition, or cause b. plural the significant events, conditions, and traits of one's earlier life 5. a. predecessor; especially a model or stimulus for later developments b. plural ancestors, parents II. adjective Date: 14th century prior Synonyms: see preceding • antecedently adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a preceding thing or circumstance. 2 Gram. a word, phrase, clause, or sentence, to which another word (esp. a relative pronoun, usu. following) refers. 3 (in pl.) past history, esp. of a person. 4 Logic the statement contained in the 'if' clause of a conditional proposition. --adj. 1 (often foll. by to) previous. 2 presumptive, a priori. Derivatives: antecedence n. antecedently adv. Etymology: ME f. F antecedent or L antecedere (as ANTE-, cedere go)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Antecedent An`te*ced"ent, a. [L. antecedens, -entis, p. pr. of antecedere: cf. F. ant['e]c['e]dent.] 1. Going before in time; prior; anterior; preceding; as, an event antecedent to the Deluge; an antecedent cause. 2. Presumptive; as, an antecedent improbability. Syn: Prior; previous; foregoing.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Antecedent An`te*ced"ent, n. [Cf. F. ant['e]c['e]dent.] 1. That which goes before in time; that which precedes. --South. The Homeric mythology, as well as the Homeric language, has surely its antecedents. --Max Miller. 2. One who precedes or goes in front. [Obs.] My antecedent, or my gentleman usher. --Massinger. 3. pl. The earlier events of one's life; previous principles, conduct, course, history. --J. H. Newman. If the troops . . . prove worthy of their antecedents, the victory is surely ours. --Gen. G. McClellan. 4. (Gram.) The noun to which a relative refers; as, in the sentence ``Solomon was the prince who built the temple,'' prince is the antecedent of who. 5. (Logic) (a) The first or conditional part of a hypothetical proposition; as, If the earth is fixed, the sun must move. (b) The first of the two propositions which constitute an enthymeme or contracted syllogism; as, Every man is mortal; therefore the king must die. 6. (Math.) The first of the two terms of a ratio; the first or third of the four terms of a proportion. In the ratio a:b, a is the antecedent, and b the consequent.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(antecedents) 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. = precursor N-COUNT: usu with supp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Preceding, precedent, previous, prior, anterior, foregoing, precursory, forerunning, going before. II. n. 1. Precursor, forerunner. 2. (Math.) First term (of a ratio). 3. (Gram.) Preceding noun (to which a pronoun refers). 4. (Logic.) First proposition (in an enthymeme).

Moby Thesaurus

agency, ancestor, ancestors, announcer, antecede, antecedents, antedate, anterior, anticipatory, ascendant, ascendants, avant-garde, base, basis, bellwether, buccinator, bushwhacker, call, causation, cause, cause and effect, chief, ci-devant, determinant, determinative, earlier, early, elder, elders, element, etiology, exordial, explorer, factor, fathers, first, fore, forebear, forebears, forefather, forefathers, foregoer, foregoing, foremost, forerun, forerunner, former, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, grandfathers, grandparents, ground, groundbreaker, grounds, guide, harbinger, heading, headmost, herald, inaugural, initiatory, innovator, instrumentality, lead runner, leader, leading, means, messenger, occasion, older, pace, past, pathfinder, patriarchs, pioneer, point, precedent, preceding, precessional, precurrent, precursor, precursory, predate, predecessor, predecessors, preexistent, prefatory, preliminary, preludial, prelusive, premise, preparatory, prevenient, previous, prime, primogenitor, principle, prior, proemial, progenitor, progenitors, propaedeutic, prototype, reason, scout, senior, stimulus, stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, vanguard, vaunt-courier, voortrekker