Antecedent: meaning, definitions and examples
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antecedent
[ ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt ]
in linguistics
A word, phrase, clause, or sentence to which another word (especially a following relative pronoun) refers.
Synonyms
ancestor, forerunner, precursor
Examples of usage
- The antecedent in the sentence 'John is a good boy, and he is always polite' is 'John'.
- In the sentence 'The book that I bought is interesting', 'book' is the antecedent of 'that'.
in logic
A preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
Synonyms
forerunner, precursor, predecessor
Examples of usage
- The economic recession had many antecedents, including over-speculation and lack of regulation.
- The Industrial Revolution had numerous antecedents in the form of technological advancements.
Translations
Translations of the word "antecedent" in other languages:
🇵🇹 antecedente
🇮🇳 पूर्ववर्ती
- पूर्वज
- पूर्ववर्तिता
🇩🇪 Vorgänger
- Vorläufer
- vorhergehend
🇮🇩 pendahulu
🇺🇦 попередник
- предок
- попередній
🇵🇱 poprzednik
- przodek
- wcześniejszy
🇯🇵 前例
- 先行する
- 先立つ
🇫🇷 antécédent
- prédécesseur
- précédent
🇪🇸 antecedente
🇹🇷 öncül
- selef
- önceki
🇰🇷 선례
- 선행
- 이전
🇸🇦 سابق
- سلف
- سابق الذكر
🇨🇿 předchůdce
- předchozí
- předchozí stav
🇸🇰 predchodca
- predchádzajúci
- predchádzajúci stav
🇨🇳 前例
- 先例
- 先行
🇸🇮 predhodnik
- prejšnji
- pretekli
🇮🇸 forveri
- fyrri
- forsendur
🇰🇿 алғашқы
- алдынғы
- бұрынғы
🇬🇪 წინა
🇦🇿 əvvəlki
- sələf
- köhnə
🇲🇽 antecedente
Word origin
The word 'antecedent' comes from the Latin word 'antecedens', which is the present participle of 'antecedere', meaning 'to go before'. It entered the English language in the late 16th century. The term has been used in linguistics and logic to refer to something that precedes another element. Over time, its usage has expanded to various fields, including literature, philosophy, and psychology.