precede

See also: precedé, précède, and précédé

English

Alternative forms

• præcede (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French précéder, from Latin praecēdō, from prae- + cēdō.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈsiːd/, /pɹiːˈsiːd/, /pɹəˈsiːd/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Homophone: proceed (only with the pronunciation /pɹəˈsiːd/)
• Rhymes: -iːd

Verb

precede (third-person singular simple present precedes, present participle preceding, simple past and past participle preceded)

1. (transitive) To go before, go in front of.

   Cultural genocide precedes physical genocide.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     But harm precedes not sin: onely our Foe / Tempting affronts us with his foul esteem / Of our integritie

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV:

     This is the custom of sending on a basket-woman, who is to precede the pomp at a coronation, and to strew the stage with flowers, before the great personages begin their procession.

   • 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 102:

     An interesting feature in the weeks preceding the diversions was the provision of a road-learning train to familiarise main line drivers with the alternative route.

2. (transitive) To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce.
   • 1832, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law, Volume 1, page 52

     It has been usual to precede hostilities by a public declaration communicated to the enemy.

3. (transitive) To have higher rank than (someone or something else).

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with proceed.
• This word is commonly misspelt as preceed.

Synonyms

• (go before): forego; see also Thesaurus:precede

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "go before"): succeed; see also Thesaurus:succeed

Related terms

• precedence
• precedent
• unprecedented

Translations

go before, go in front of

• Arabic: سَبَقَ (sabaqa), سَلَفَ (salafa), قَدَمَ (ar) (qadama), تَقَدَّمَ (taqaddama)
• Bulgarian: предшествам (predšestvam)
• Catalan: precedir (ca)
• Czech: předcházet impf
• Dutch: voorafgaan (nl), laten voorbijgaan, passen (nl)
• Esperanto: antaŭiri
• Finnish: kulkea edellä, edeltää (fi)
• French: précéder (fr)
• German: vorangehen (de), vorausgehen (de)
• Greek: προηγούμαι (el) (proïgoúmai)

  Ancient: ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai)

• Indonesian: memasrahkan
• Italian: precedere (it)
• Japanese: 先んずる (ja) (さきんずる, sakinzuru)
• Latin: praecēdō, praeveniō (la)
• Occitan: precedir (oc), davantejar
• Polish: poprzedzać (pl) impf, poprzedzić pf
• Portuguese: preceder (pt), anteceder (pt)
• Romanian: preceda (ro)
• Russian: предше́ствовать (ru) impf (predšéstvovatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: prethoditi (sh), претходити
• Spanish: preceder (es), anteceder (es)
• Swahili: kutangulia (sw)
• Turkish: önce gelmek, önce gitmek
• Ukrainian: передува́ти impf (pereduváty)

have higher rank than

• Bulgarian: превъзхождам (bg) (prevǎzhoždam)
• Finnish: ylittää tärkeydessä, olla tärkeämpi, olla ylempiarvoinen
• French: précéder (fr)
• Hungarian: megelőz (hu)
• Portuguese: preceder (pt)
• Romanian: preceda (ro)
• Russian: превосходи́ть (ru) impf (prevosxodítʹ)

Noun

precede (plural precedes)

1. Brief editorial preface (usually to an article or essay)

Anagrams

• creeped

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /preˈt͡ʃɛ.de/
• Rhymes: -ɛde
• Hyphenation: pre‧cè‧de

Verb

precede

1. third-person singular present indicative of precedere

Portuguese

Verb

precede

1. inflection of preceder:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Romanian

Alternative forms

• preceda

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praecedere, present active infinitive of praecedō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /preˈt͡ʃe.de/

Verb

a precede (third-person singular present precede, past participle preces) 3rd conj.

1. to precede

Conjugation

    conjugation of precede (third conjugation, past participle in -s)

infinitive			a precede
gerund			precezând
past participle			preces
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	preced	precezi	precede	precedem	precedeți	preced
	imperfect	precedeam	precedeai	precedea	precedeam	precedeați	precedeau
	simple perfect	precesei	preceseși	precese	preceserăm	preceserăți	preceseră
	pluperfect	precesesem	preceseseși	precesese	preceseserăm	preceseserăți	preceseseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să preced	să precezi	să preceadă	să precedem	să precedeți	să preceadă
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		precede			precedeți
	negative		nu precede			nu precedeți

References

• MDA2 via DEX

Spanish

Verb

precede

1. inflection of preceder:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative