PRECEDE

precede, preface, premise, introduce

(verb) furnish with a preface or introduction; “She always precedes her lectures with a joke”; “He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution”

precede, lead

(verb) move ahead (of others) in time or space

precede, come before

(verb) be the predecessor of; “Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan’s husbands”

precede, predate

(verb) come before; “Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify”

predate, precede, forego, forgo, antecede, antedate

(verb) be earlier in time; go back further; “Stone tools precede bronze tools”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

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

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

(transitive) To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce.

(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 precede

Antonyms

• (go before): succeed; see also succeed

Noun

precede (plural precedes)

Brief editorial preface (usually to an article or essay)

Anagrams

• creeped

Source: Wiktionary

Pre*cede", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preceded; p. pr. & vb. n. Preceding.] Etym: [L. praecedere, praecessum; prae before + cedere to go, to be in motion: cf. F. préceder. See Pre-, and Cede.]

1. To go before in order of time; to occur first with relation to anything. "Harm precedes not sin." Milton.

2. To go before in place, rank, or importance.

3. To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; -- used with by or with before the instrumental object. [R.] It is usual to precede hostilities by a public declaration. Kent.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition