ANTECEDENT Definition & Meaning

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antecedent

[an-tuh-seed-nt]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

preceding; prior.
an antecedent event.
Synonyms: ,
Antonyms:

noun

a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
Synonyms: , ,
Antonyms:
antecedents,
1. ancestors.
2. the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one's earlier life.
  Little is known about his birth and antecedents.
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.
Mathematics.��
1. the first term of a ratio; the first or third term of a proportion.
2. the first of two vectors in a dyad.
Logic.��the conditional element in a proposition, as “Caesar conquered Gaul,” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”

antecedent

/ ˌæ�Գ�ɪˈ��ː��ə�Գ� /

noun

an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another
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
logic the hypothetical clause, usually introduced by "if", in a conditional statement: that which implies the other
maths an obsolescent name for numerator
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

adjective

preceding in time or order; prior

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

antecedental adjective
antecedently adverb

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of antecedent¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin ��Գٱ�ŧ��Գ�-, stem of ��Գٱ�ŧ��ŧ�Բ� “going before,” present participle of ��Գٱ�ŧ�� “to go before, precede, excel, surpass”; antecede

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

To be fair, Trump has never been explicit about the antecedent Again.

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Arm in arm with this, and less discussed, is the death of deductive logic, the ability to understand cause and effect by composing simple conditional arguments with an antecedent and a consequent.

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They found that physical frailty can be an indicator of future social isolation over time and that loneliness may be both an antecedent and an outcome of frailty.

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Two thrillers with literary antecedents — “Cross” on Prime Video and “The Day of the Jackal” on Peacock — premiere Thursday.

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Maybe the Satanic panic isn't even the best kind of antecedent, but rather the child abduction panic or the gang crime panic, where there is a real problem, but blown out of proportion.

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antecedency antecedents

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