English
antecedent
Antecedent comes from Latin antecēdēns ‘going before’, from antecēdō ‘to precede’, and ultimately from cēdō ‘go’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEantecēdō‘to precede’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEantecēdēns‘going before’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400antecedent
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500antecedent
- Englishearliest quotation 1926antecedent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEantecēdō‘to precede’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEantecēdēns‘going before’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400antecedent
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500antecedent
- Englishearliest quotation 1926antecedent
Earliest quotation: 1926, H. W. Fowler, that rel. pron.: “[W]hereas it might seem orderly that, as who is…”
Linked words
through Latin cēdō ‘go’
process, success, necessary, procedure, accessible, excess, succeed, cease, recession, concession, predecessor, accession, recess, cessation, secession, concede, precedent, intercession, cede, 28 more
Today it means
adj Earlier, either in time or in order.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin cēdō / antecedent