Word · Frequency #16104
antecedent
前因；前事
A thing or event that comes before another, especially one that causes it.
- 1.
Any thing that precedes another thing, especially the cause of the second thing.
- 2.
someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
祖先
- 3.
An ancestor.
- 4.
a preceding occurrence or cause or event
前因
- 5.
A word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun or other pro-form.
- 6.
anything that precedes something similar in time
先例
- 7.
The conditional part of a hypothetical proposition, i.e. p→q, where p is the antecedent, and q is the consequent.
- 8.
The first of two subsets of a sequent, consisting of all the sequent's formulae which are valuated as true.
- 9.
The first term of a ratio, i.e. the term a in the ratio a:b, the other being the consequent.
- 10.
Previous principles, conduct, history, etc.
前例；前身；先行词；祖先；履历；来历；前件
In use
My antecedent came from Ireland in the 19th century.
The researchers traced the patient's antecedents to a small village in Italy.
She discovered that one of her antecedents was a famous poet.
phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience
antecedent of [someone]
She traced her lineage back to an antecedent of the royal family.
她将自己的血统追溯到一位皇室家族的祖先。
[possessive] antecedent(s)
His antecedents were all farmers from the same village.
他的祖先都是来自同一个村庄的农民。
Connections
Collocations
- antecedent of a pronoun
- 代词先行词
- In the sentence 'Mary lost her keys,' Mary is the antecedent of 'her'.在句子“Mary lost her keys”中，Mary是“her”的先行词。
- criminal antecedents
- 犯罪前科
- He was asked about his criminal antecedents.他被问及自己的犯罪前科。
- historical antecedents
- 历史先例
- The historian traced the historical antecedents of the modern novel.历史学家追溯了现代小说的历史先例。
- immediate antecedents
- 直接前因
- The protests were the immediate antecedents of the government's resignation.抗议活动是政府辞职的直接前因。
Synonyms
- precursor
- 先导；前兆 · 强调时间上先出现并为后来的事件做铺垫，常用于事件、思想或物质；比 antecedent 更强调‘导向结果’的意味。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
记忆联想：蚂蚁(ant)走在最前面，它就是事件的‘前因’，也是后代的‘祖先/先例’。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：正式写作、学术论文、历史或哲学讨论 表示“先前发生的事或前因”时，该词通常用于正式、书面或学术语境，日常口语中不常用。
Grammar Note
可数名词，常用单数或复数形式，指祖先或语法中的先行词。
Pronunciation & Spelling
precedent（美式 /ˈprɛsədənt/）与 antecedent 押韵；president、resident 的尾音是 /zɪdənt/，accident、incident、dependent 的重读元音或辅音也不同，这些都只是形近词，发音并不相同。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.