antecedentnoun [ C ]
uk/ˌæn.tiˈsiː.dənt/us/ˌæn.t̬əˈsiː.dənt/formal someone or something existing or happening before, especially as the cause or origin of something existing or happening later:
Charles Babbage's mechanical calculating engines were the antecedents of the modern computer.
Many people feel a great curiosity to find out about their antecedents.
specialized language a word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to:
In the sentence "He picked a book off the shelf and handed it to Sally", "book" is the antecedent of "it".
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Preceding and introducing
- announce
- antedate
- beat
- build-up
- countdown
- curtain-raiser
- emcee
- forerunner
- introduce
- introduction
- introductory
- lead 1
- lead up to sth
- lead-in
- preamble
- predate 1
- predecessor
- preface
- preliminary
- prelude
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Linguistics: grammatical terms
antecedentadjective
uk/ˌæn.tiˈsiː.dənt/us/ˌæn.t̬əˈsiː.dənt/formalprevious:
When the college was established in 1546, it inherited a hall from each of three antecedent institutions.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Preceding and introducing
- announce
- antedate
- beat
- build-up
- countdown
- curtain-raiser
- emcee
- forerunner
- introduce
- introduction
- introductory
- lead 1
- lead up to sth
- lead-in
- preamble
- predate 1
- predecessor
- preface
- preliminary
- prelude
See more results »