predecessor

English

Alternative forms

• prædecessor (archaic)
• prædecessour (obsolete, rare)
• predecessour (obsolete)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin prae (“before”) + decedo (“go away”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːdɪsɛsə(ɹ)/
• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːdɪsɛsɚ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛd.ə.sɛs.ɚ/, /ˈpɹi.də.sɛs.ɚ/

Noun

predecessor (plural predecessors)

1. One who precedes; one who has preceded another in any state, position, office, etc.; one whom another follows or comes after, in any office or position.
2. A model or type of machinery or device which precedes the current one. Usually used to describe an earlier, outdated model.

   The steam engine was the predecessor of diesel and electric locomotives.

3. (mathematics) A vertex having a directed path to another vertex

Synonyms

• forerunner
• foreganger (archaic, rare)

Antonyms

• (one who precedes): successor
• (machinery or device which precedes): successor

Translations

one who precedes

• Catalan: antecessor m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前任 (zh) (qiánrèn), 前任者 (qiánrènzhě)

• Czech: předchůdce m
• Esperanto: antaŭulo
• Estonian: eelkäija
• Finnish: edeltäjä (fi)
• French: prédécesseur (fr) m, prédécesseuse (fr) f, prédécessrice (fr) f
• Georgian: წინამორბედი (c̣inamorbedi)
• German: Vorgänger (de) m, Vorgängerin (de) f
• Greek: προκάτοχος (el) m or f (prokátochos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: pendahulu (id)
• Italian: predecessore (it) m or f, antecessore m
• Japanese: 前任者 (ぜんにんしゃ, zenninsha)
• Old English: fōregenġa m
• Polish: poprzednik (pl) m
• Portuguese: predecessor (pt) m, antecessor (pt) m
• Russian: предше́ственник (ru) m (predšéstvennik), предше́ственница (ru) f (predšéstvennica)
• Spanish: predecesor (es) m, antecesor (es) m
• Swedish: föregångare (sv) c
• Turkish: öncü (tr)

model or type which precedes

• Esperanto: antaŭanto
• Finnish: edeltäjä (fi)
• French: précédent (fr) m
• German: Vorläufer (de) m
• Indonesian: pendahulu (id)
• Italian: precedente (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 前機種 (zen kishu)
• Polish: poprzednik (pl) m
• Portuguese: predecessor (pt) m
• Russian: предше́ственник (ru) m (predšéstvennik), предше́ственница (ru) f (predšéstvennica)
• Swedish: föregångare (sv) c
• Turkish: öncü (tr)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “predecessor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• reprocessed

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Catalan

Noun

predecessor m (plural predecessors, feminine predecessora)

1. predecessor

Further reading

• “predecessor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “predecessor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “predecessor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “predecessor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Portuguese

Noun

predecessor m (plural predecessores, feminine predecessora, feminine plural predecessoras)

1. predecessor (something or someone who precedes)

Synonyms

• (one who precedes): antecessor

Adjective

1. preceding (occurring before or in front of something else)

Synonyms

• antecessor, anterior