preceding

preceding
    adj 1: existing or coming before [ant: {succeeding(a)}]
    2: of a person who has held and relinquished a position or
       office; "a retiring member of the board" [syn: {past(a)},
       {preceding(a)}, {retiring(a)}]
    

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. pr['e]ceder. See
   {Pre-}, and {Cede}.]
   1. To go before in order of time; to occur first with
      relation to anything. "Harm precedes not sin." --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To go before in place, rank, or importance.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; -- used
      with by or with before the instrumental object. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            It is usual to precede hostilities by a public
            declaration.                          --Kent.
      [1913 Webster] Precedence
    

Preceding \Pre*ced"ing\, a.
   1. Going before; -- opposed to following.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Astron.) In the direction toward which stars appear to
      move. See {Following}, 2.
      [1913 Webster]
    

78 Moby Thesaurus words for "preceding":
      above, advanced, aforegoing, aforementioned, ante, antecedence,
      antecedency, antecedent, anteposition, anterior, anteriority,
      anticipatory, avant-garde, chief, ci-devant, dominion, earlier,
      early, elder, ere, erstwhile, exordial, exploratory, first, fore,
      foregoing, foremost, former, front, front position, heading,
      headmost, heretofore, hitherto, in, inaugural, initiatory, last,
      latter, le pas, leading, older, original, other, past, precedence,
      precedency, precedent, precession, precessional, precurrent,
      precursive, precursor, precursory, preexistent, prefatory,
      preference, prefixation, preliminary, prelude, preludial,
      prelusive, preparatory, prevenient, previous, prime, prior,
      priority, proemial, propaedeutic, prothesis, senior, superiority,
      the lead, to, top priority, urgency, van