proceed

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English proceden, from Old French proceder, from Latin prōcēdō (“I go forth, go forward, advance”), from prō (“forth”) + cēdō (“I go”); see cede.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

proceed (third-person singular simple present proceeds, present participle proceeding, simple past and past participle proceeded)

  1. (intransitive) To move, pass, or go forward or onward; to advance; to carry on
    to proceed on a journey
    • 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The railways and the Devon floods”, in Trains Illustrated, page 709:
      [...] and on the Saturday heavy seas pounded the W.R. on its exposed coastal stretch between Dawlish and Teignmouth, loosening the ballast and forcing trains to proceed with extreme caution.
  2. (intransitive) To pass from one point, topic, or stage, to another.
    to proceed with a story or argument
  3. (intransitive) To come from; to have as its source or origin.
    Light proceeds from the sun.
  4. (intransitive) To go on in an orderly or regulated manner; to begin and carry on a series of acts or measures; to act methodically
  5. (intransitive) To be transacted; to take place; to occur.
  6. (intransitive, of a rule) To be applicable or effective; to be valid.
    • 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon juris canonici Anglicani
      [This rule] only proceeds and takes place, when a person cannot of common Right condemn or bind another by his Sentence.
  7. (law, intransitive) To begin and carry on a legal process.
    • 2005, Rodney Stich, Disavow: Sage of Betrayal
      “Gentlemen, shall we proceed?” the judge said.
      From the beginning, Judge Fong appeared bored at Levine's coaxing remarks.
  8. (intransitive) To take an academic degree.

Usage notes[edit]

  • When used as a catenative verb, proceed takes the to infinitive (i.e. one says proceed to swing, not proceed swing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs.
  • Not to be confused with precede.
  • Many of the other English verbs ultimately derived from Latin cēdō are spelled ending in "cede", so the misspelling "procede" is common.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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 “proceed” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Anagrams[edit]

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