precede

[pri-seed]

verb (used with object)

preceded, preceding 

1. to go before, as in place, order, rank, importance, or time.

2. to introduce by something preliminary; preface.

   to precede one's statement with a qualification.

verb (used without object)

preceded, preceding 

1. to go or come before.

noun

1. Journalism.,  copy printed at the beginning of a news story presenting late bulletins, editorial notes, or prefatory remarks.

precede

/ prɪˈsiːd /

verb

1. to go or be before (someone or something) in time, place, rank, etc

2. (tr) to preface or introduce

Other Word Forms

• precedable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of precede¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English preceden, from Latin praecēdere; pre-, cede

Word History and Origins

Origin of precede¹

C14: via Old French from Latin praecēdere to go before, from prae before + cēdere to move

Example Sentences

Days later, a federal magistrate judge said an arrest in Northeast Washington was preceded by the “most illegal search I’ve seen in my life” and described another arrest as lacking “basic human dignity.”

From Salon

Root had managed a high score of 27 in his five preceding innings this season, with three single-figure scores, but opened the Rockets innings in combative mood.

From BBC

In a June statement, the group said the initiative lacks transparency and that Kennedy “casually ignores decades of high quality research that preceded his oversight.”

From Salon

The court ruled that, whatever the map's flaws, Thailand had failed to challenge them in the preceding half century.

From BBC

Whereas each track on “The BPM” is more emancipatory than the one that precedes it; home means something new, a deliberate renovation of received ideas of how to make a house a home.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• anticipate 
• foreshadow 
• predate 
• presage