antecedent
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an·te·ce·dent
(ăn′tĭ-sēd′nt)adj.
Going before; preceding.
n.
1. One that precedes another.
2.
a. A preceding occurrence, cause, or event. See Synonyms at cause.
b. antecedents The important events and occurrences in one's early life.
3. antecedents One's ancestors.
4. 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.
5. Mathematics The first term of a ratio.
6. Logic The conditional member of a hypothetical proposition.
an′te·ce′dent·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
antecedent
(ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt)n
1. an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another
2. (Grammar) grammar a word or phrase to which a pronoun refers. In the sentence "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," people is the antecedent of who
3. (Logic) logic the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other
4. (Mathematics) maths an obsolescent name for numerator1
5. (Logic) denying the antecedent logic the fallacy of inferring the falsehood of the consequent of a conditional statement, given the truth of the conditional and the falsehood of its antecedent, as if there are five of them, there are more than four: there are not five, so there are not more than four
adj
preceding in time or order; prior
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
an•te•ced•ent
(ˌæn təˈsid nt)adj.
1. preceding; prior: an antecedent event.
n. 2. a preceding circumstance, event, object, phenomenon, etc.; precursor.
3. antecedents,
a. ancestors.
b. the history, events, conditions, etc., of one's earlier life.
4. a word, phrase, or clause, usu. a substantive, that is replaced, usu. later, by a pronoun or other substitute, as Jane and glove in Jane lost a glove and she can't find it.
5. Math.
a. the first term of a ratio; the first or third term of a proportion.
b. the first of two vectors in a dyad.
6. the conditional element in a proposition introduced by “if.” Compare consequent (def. 5).
[1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin antecēdent-, s. of antecēdēns, present participle of antecēdere to antecede]
an`te•ced′en•cy, adv.
an•te•ce•den•tal (ˌæn tə siˈdɛn tl) adj.
an`te•ced′ent•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Noun | 1. | antecedent - someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent) ancestress - a woman ancestor foremother - a woman ancestor primogenitor, progenitor - an ancestor in the direct line |
2. | antecedent - a preceding occurrence or cause or event cause - events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something; "they are trying to determine the cause of the crash" | |
3. | antecedent - anything that precedes something similar in time; "phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience" temporal relation - a relation involving time | |
4. | antecedent - the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun referent - something referred to; the object of a reference | |
Adj. | 1. | antecedent - preceding in time or order preceding - existing or coming before subsequent - following in time or order; "subsequent developments" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
antecedent
adjective
1. preceding, earlier, former, previous, prior, preliminary, foregoing, anterior, precursory They were allowed to take account of antecedent legislation.
preceding later, following, succeeding, subsequent, successive, ensuing, consequent, after, posterior
preceding later, following, succeeding, subsequent, successive, ensuing, consequent, after, posterior
plural noun
1. ancestors, family, line, stock, blood, descent, extraction, ancestry, forebears, forefathers, genealogy, progenitors a Frenchman with Irish antecedents
2. past, history, background a series of conditions or antecedents which may have contributed to the situation
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
antecedent
adjectivenoun
1. One that precedes, as in time:
3. A person from whom one is descended:
Archaic: predecessor.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
antecedent
[ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt]A. N → antecedente m antecedents (= past history) → antecedentes mpl; (= ancestors) → antepasados mpl
B. ADJ → precedente, que precede (to a)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
antecedent
adj → früher; the crisis and its antecedent events → die Krise und die ihr vorangehenden or vorausgehenden Ereignisse; to be antecedent to something → einer Sache (dat) → voran- or vorausgehen
n
antecedents (of person, = past history) → Vorleben nt; (= ancestry) → Abstammung f; (of event) → Vorgeschichte f
(Gram) → Bezugswort nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
antecedent
[ˌæntɪˈsiːd/ənt] n → antecedente m, precedente m antecedents npl (past history) → antecedenti, precedenti; (ancestors) → antenati mplCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995