Adjacent Words

Precedent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRECE'DENT, a. Going before in time; anterior; antecedent; as precedent services; a precedent fault of the will.
The world, or any part thereof, could not be precedent to the creation of man.
A precedent condition, in law, is a condition which must happen or be performed before an estate or some right can vest, and on failure of which the estate or right is defeated.
PREC'EDENT, n. Something done or said, that may serve or be adduced as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the like kind.
Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only.
1. In law, a judicial decision, interlocutory or final, which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases; or any proceeding or course of proceedings which may serve for a rule insubsequent cases of a like nature.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: preceding in time, order, or significance n
1: an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time [syn: precedent, case in point]
2: (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions [syn: case law, precedent, common law]
3: a system of jurisprudence based on judicial precedents rather than statutory laws; "common law originated in the unwritten laws of England and was later applied in the United States" [syn: common law, case law, precedent]
4: a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time)

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin praecedent-, praecedens, present participle of praecedere Date: 15th century prior in time, order, arrangement, or significance II. noun Date: 15th century 1. an earlier occurrence of something similar 2. a. something done or said that may serve as an example or rule to authorize or justify a subsequent act of the same or an analogous kind <a verdict that had no precedent> b. the convention established by such a precedent or by long practice 3. a person or thing that serves as a model

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. a previous case or legal decision etc. taken as a guide for subsequent cases or as a justification. --adj. preceding in time, order, importance, etc. Derivatives: precedently adv. Etymology: ME f. OF (n. & adj.) (as PRECEDE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Precedent Pre*ced"ent, a. [L. praecedens, -entis, p. pr. of praecedere: cf. F. pr['e]c['e]dent. See Precede.] Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services. --Shak. ``A precedent injury.'' --Bacon. Condition precedent (Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Precedent Prec"e*dent, n. 1. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example. Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only. --Hooker. 2. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign. [Obs.] 3. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy. [Obs.] --Shak. 4. (Law) A judicial decision which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases; an authority to be followed in courts of justice; forms of proceeding to be followed in similar cases. --Wharton. Syn: Example; antecedent. Usage: Precedent, Example. An example in a similar case which may serve as a rule or guide, but has no authority out of itself. A precedent is something which comes down to us from the past with the sanction of usage and of common consent. We quote examples in literature, and precedents in law.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(precedents) If there is a precedent for an action or event, it has happened before, and this can be regarded as an argument for doing it again. (FORMAL) The trial could set an important precedent for dealing with large numbers of similar cases... N-VAR: oft N for n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Antecedent, See preceding. II. n. Authoritative example, prior instance, antecedent, example, pattern, historic warrant, authority in past practice.

Moby Thesaurus

action, ancestor, announcer, antecedent, anterior, antetype, antitype, archetype, avant-garde, award, bellwether, biotype, buccinator, bushwhacker, classic example, condemnation, consideration, criterion, decision, decree, deliverance, determination, diagnosis, dictum, doom, epitome, example, exemplar, explorer, finding, forebear, foregoer, foregoing, forerunner, former, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, fugler, genotype, groundbreaker, guide, harbinger, herald, imitatee, innovator, lead, lead runner, leader, messenger, mirror, model, order, original, paradigm, past, pathfinder, pattern, pioneer, point, precursor, predecessor, premise, previous, prior, prognosis, pronouncement, prototype, representative, resolution, rule, ruling, scout, sentence, standard, stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, type, type species, type specimen, urtext, vanguard, vaunt-courier, verdict, voortrekker, yardstick