Definition of "antecedent"

antecedent

/ˌæntɪˈsiːdənt/

adjective
not comparable
1. Earlier, either in time or in order.
2. Presumptive.
noun
plural antecedents
1. Any thing that precedes another thing, especially the cause of the second thing.
2. An ancestor.
  Quotations
  The Boston agent added that this clerk was a young man of wholly unquestioned veracity and reliability, of known antecedents and long with the company.
  1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 3, in The Whisperer in Darkness
3. (grammar) A word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun.
  Quotations
  [W]hereas it might seem orderly that, as who is appropriated to persons, so that should have been appropriated to things […] the antecedent of that is often personal
  1926, H. W. Fowler, “that rel. pron.”, in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, reprint of the first edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, published 2002, page 634, column 2
  One such condition can be formulated in terms of the c-command relation defined in (9) above: the relevant condition is given in (16) below:(16) C-COMMAND CONDITION ON ANAPHORSAn anaphor must have an appropriate c-commanding antecedent
  1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 117
4. (logic) The conditional part of a hypothetical proposition, i.e. p → q , where p is the antecedent, and q is the consequent.
5. (logic) The first of two subsets of a sequent, consisting of all the sequent's formulae which are valuated as true.
6. (mathematics) The first term of a ratio, i.e. the term a in the ratio a:b, the other being the consequent.
7. (chiefly in the plural) Previous principles, conduct, history, etc.