antecedent

antecedent
    adj 1: preceding in time or order [ant: {subsequent}]
    n 1: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more
         remote than a grandparent) [syn: {ancestor}, {ascendant},
         {ascendent}, {antecedent}, {root}] [ant: {descendant},
         {descendent}]
    2: a preceding occurrence or cause or event
    3: anything that precedes something similar in time; "phrenology
       was an antecedent of modern neuroscience" [syn: {antecedent},
       {forerunner}]
    4: the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is
       referred to by an anaphoric pronoun
    

Antecedent \An`te*ced"ent\, a. [L. antecedens, -entis, p. pr. of
   antecedere: cf. F. ant['e]c['e]dent.]
   1. Going before in time; prior; anterior; preceding; as, an
      event antecedent to the Deluge; an antecedent cause.
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   2. Presumptive; as, an antecedent improbability.
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   Syn: Prior; previous; foregoing.
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Antecedent \An`te*ced"ent\, n. [Cf. F. ant['e]c['e]dent.]
   1. That which goes before in time; that which precedes.
      --South.
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            The Homeric mythology, as well as the Homeric
            language, has surely its antecedents. --Max Miller.
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   2. One who precedes or goes in front. [Obs.]
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            My antecedent, or my gentleman usher. --Massinger.
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   3. pl. The earlier events of one's life; previous principles,
      conduct, course, history. --J. H. Newman.
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            If the troops . . . prove worthy of their
            antecedents, the victory is surely ours. --Gen. G.
                                                  McClellan.
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   4. (Gram.) The noun to which a relative refers; as, in the
      sentence "Solomon was the prince who built the temple,"
      prince is the antecedent of who.
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   5. (Logic)
      (a) The first or conditional part of a hypothetical
          proposition; as, If the earth is fixed, the sun must
          move.
      (b) The first of the two propositions which constitute an
          enthymeme or contracted syllogism; as, Every man is
          mortal; therefore the king must die.
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   6. (Math.) The first of the two terms of a ratio; the first
      or third of the four terms of a proportion. In the ratio
      a:b, a is the antecedent, and b the consequent.
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ANTECEDENT. Something that goes before. In the construction of laws,
agreements, and the like, reference is always to be made to the last
antecedent; ad proximun antecedens fiat relatio. But not only the
antecedents but the subsequent clauses of the instrument must be considered:
Ex antecedentibus et consequentibus fit optima interpretatio.
    

114 Moby Thesaurus words for "antecedent":
      agency, ancestor, ancestors, announcer, antecede, antecedents,
      antedate, anterior, anticipatory, ascendant, ascendants,
      avant-garde, base, basis, bellwether, buccinator, bushwhacker,
      call, causation, cause, cause and effect, chief, ci-devant,
      determinant, determinative, earlier, early, elder, elders, element,
      etiology, exordial, explorer, factor, fathers, first, fore,
      forebear, forebears, forefather, forefathers, foregoer, foregoing,
      foremost, forerun, forerunner, former, front runner, frontiersman,
      fugleman, grandfathers, grandparents, ground, groundbreaker,
      grounds, guide, harbinger, heading, headmost, herald, inaugural,
      initiatory, innovator, instrumentality, lead runner, leader,
      leading, means, messenger, occasion, older, pace, past, pathfinder,
      patriarchs, pioneer, point, precedent, preceding, precessional,
      precurrent, precursor, precursory, predate, predecessor,
      predecessors, preexistent, prefatory, preliminary, preludial,
      prelusive, premise, preparatory, prevenient, previous, prime,
      primogenitor, principle, prior, proemial, progenitor, progenitors,
      propaedeutic, prototype, reason, scout, senior, stimulus,
      stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, vanguard, vaunt-courier,
      voortrekker