antedate
1 of 2noun
an·te·date ˈan-ti-ˌdāt 
: a date assigned to an event or document earlier than the actual date of the event or document
antedate
2 of 2verb
an·te·date ˈan-ti-ˌdāt
ˌan-ti-ˈdāt
antedated; antedating; antedates
transitive verb
1
a
: to date as of a time prior to that of execution
b
: to assign to a date prior to that of actual occurrence
2
archaic : anticipate
3
: to precede in time
Did you know?
Dinosaurs antedated the first human beings by almost 65 million years, though this stubborn fact never used to stop cartoonists and screenwriters from having the two species inhabit the same story line. Dictionary editors are constantly noticing how the oral use of a word may antedate its first appearance in print by a number of years. Antedating a check or a contract isn't illegal unless it's done for the purpose of fraud (the same is true of its opposite, postdating).
Synonyms
Verb
- antecede
- forego
- precede
- predate
- preexist
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb The church antedates the village itself. dinosaurs antedate humans by millions of years
Recent Examples on the Web
Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 17 Oct. 2019 His theatrically posed male nudes were antedated by George Platt Lynes’s. Arthur Lubow, New York Times, 25 July 2019
Verb
In truth, however, Italy’s migration policies antedate Salvini by at least two years, and represent an ugly consensus generally if more quietly shared by many powers in the EU. Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 17 Oct. 2019 His theatrically posed male nudes were antedated by George Platt Lynes’s. Arthur Lubow, New York Times, 25 July 2019 Word History
First Known Use
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1568, in the meaning defined at sense 1b
antedating
verb
as in preceding
to go or come before in time dinosaurs antedate humans by millions of years Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- preceding
- predating
- preexisting
- foregoing
- anteceding
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- succeeding
- following
- postdating