English

Verb

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

1. To move, pass, or go forward or onward; to advance; to continue or renew motion begun.

   to proceed on a journey.

2. To pass from one point, topic, or stage, to another.

   To proceed with a story or argument.

3. To issue or come forth as from a source or origin; to come from.

   Light proceeds from the sun.

4. To go on in an orderly or regulated manner; to begin and carry on a series of acts or measures; to act by method; to prosecute a design.
   • John Locke

     he that proceeds upon other Principles in his Enquiry

5. To be transacted; to take place; to occur.
   • Shakespeare

     He will, after his sour fashion, tell you / What hath proceeded worthy note to-day.

6. To have application or effect; to operate.
   • Ayliffe

     This rule only proceeds and takes place when a person can not of common law condemn another by his sentence.

7. To begin and carry on a legal process. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Usage notes

• 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

• progress

Antonyms

• regress
• recede

Related terms

• procedure
• process

Translations

References

• proceed in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• proceed in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

See also

• proceeds (noun)

Anagrams

• pre-Code, precode