antecedent

Meanings

Adjective

• Earlier, either in time or in order.
• Presumptive.

Noun

• In “The policeman asked the boy what he was doing.”, the phrase “the boy” is the antecedent of the pronoun “he”.
• Any thing that precedes another thing, especially the cause of the second thing.
• An ancestor.
• A word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun.
• The conditional part of a hypothetical proposition, i.e. $p\; \backslash rightarrow\; q$, where $p$ is the antecedent, and $q$ is the consequent.
• The first of two subsets of a sequent, consisting of all the sequent's formulae which are valuated as true.
• The first term of a ratio, i.e. the term a in the ratio a:b, the other being the consequent.
• Previous principles, conduct, history, etc.

Related

Similar words

• precedent, precursor
• ascendant, ascendent, forebear, forefather, forerunner, predecessor, progenitor

Opposite words

• consequent, succedent
• anaphor

Origin

• From Middle English antecedent, borrowed from Old French antecedent, from Latin antecēdēns, from antecēdō.