The meaning of ANTECEDENT is a substantive word, phrase, or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun that typically follows the substantive (such as John in 'Maria saw …

ANTECEDENT definition: 1. someone or something existing or happening before, especially as the cause or origin of…. Learn more.

Dec 19, 2022 · In English grammar, an antecedent is a person, place, thing, or clause represented by a pronoun or pronominal adjective. It is also known as a referent. Antecedents …

ANTECEDENT definition: preceding; prior. See examples of antecedent used in a sentence.

An antecedent of something happened or existed before it and was similar to it in some way.

antecedent, n. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary

1. preceding; prior: an antecedent event. n. 2. a preceding circumstance, event, object, phenomenon, etc.; precursor.

antecedents, [plural] ancestors: Where did your antecedents come from? Grammar a word, phrase, or clause, usually a noun, that is replaced, usually later, by a pronoun or other …

Dec 14, 2025 · antecedent (plural antecedents) Any thing that precedes another thing, especially the cause of the second thing. An ancestor. quotations

ANTECEDENT meaning: 1 : a word or phrase that is represented by another word (such as a pronoun); 2 : something that came before something else and may have influenced or caused it