Etymology : Middle English, from Middle French preceder, from Latin praecedere, from prae- pre- + cedere to go
Pronunciation : pri-'sEd
Function : verb
Date : 15th century
1. go before, come before; be in front, be ahead of; predate, happen before. precede\pre*cede"\ , v. t. [imp. & p. p. preceded; p. pr. & vb. n. preceding.] [l. praecedere, praecessum; prae before + cedere to go, to be in motion: cf. f. préceder. see:
pre-, and cede.].
2. to go before in order of time; to occur first with relation to anything. "harm precedes not sin.".
3. to go before in place, rank, or importance.
4. to cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; -- used with by or with before the instrumental object. [r.] it is usual to precede hostilities by a public declaration. [precede v.
5. be earlier in time; go back further [syn: predate, forego, antecede, antedate] [ant: postdate].
6. come before; "most english adjectives precede the noun they modify" [syn: predate].
7. be the predecessor of [syn: come before] [ant: succeed].
8. move ahead (of others) in time or space [syn: lead] [ant: follow].
9. To go before in order of time; to occur first with relation to anything.
10. To go before in place, rank, or importance.
11. To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; used with by or with before the instrumental object. furnish with a preface or introduction; "She always precedes her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution" move ahead in time or space be the predecessor of; "Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands" come before; "Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify".
12. 1. If one event or period of time precedes another, it happens before it. Intensive negotiations between the main parties preceded the vote The earthquake was preceded by a loud roar and lasted 20 seconds Industrial orders had already fallen in the preceding months.
13. If you precede someone somewhere, you go in front of them. He gestured to Alice to precede them from the room They were preceded by mounted cowboys.
14. A sentence, paragraph, or chapter that precedes another one comes just before it. Look at the information that precedes the paragraph in question Repeat the exercises described in the preceding section. ¡Ù follow.