Antecedents
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təˈsid adjective
1.
preceding; prior: an antecedent event.
noun
2.
a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
3.
antecedents.
a.
b.
the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one's earlier life: Little is known about his birth and antecedents.
4.
Grammar. a word, phrase, or clause, usually a substantive, that is replaced by a pronoun or other substitute later, or occasionally earlier, in the same or in another, usually subsequent, sentence. In Jane lost a glove and she can't find it, Jane is the antecedent of she and glove is the antecedent of it.
5.
Mathematics.
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.
Logic. the conditional element in a proposition, as “Caesar conquered Gaul,” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”
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Antecedents
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin antecēdent- (stem of antecēdēns) going before, present participle of antecēdere to antecede; see -ent
1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin antecēdent- (stem of antecēdēns) going before, present participle of antecēdere to antecede; see -ent
Related forms
an·te·ced·ent·ly, adverb
Synonyms
1. precursory, preexistent. 2. precursor, forerunner, ancestor.
1. precursory, preexistent. 2. precursor, forerunner, ancestor.
Antonyms
1. subsequent. 2. successor.
1. subsequent. 2. successor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To antecedents
Collins
World English Dictionary
antecedent (ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another |
| 2. | 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 the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other |
| 4. | maths an obsolescent name for numerator |
| 5. | logic denying the antecedent 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 | |
| 6. | preceding in time or order; prior |
| antecedents (ˌæntɪˈsiːdənts) | |
| —pl n | |
| 1. | ancestry |
| 2. | a person's past history |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
antecedent an·te·ce·dent (ān'tĭ-sēd'nt)
n.
A precursor.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Its antecedents lie in pre-war periods of technological innovation.
The megafaunal extinctions of the last 50000 years appear to have no antecedents.
For one thing, it has unusual international antecedents.
Rant videos can be seen as borrowing conventions from their 17th-century antecedents.
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