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Webster 1913 Edition

Precedent

Pre-ced′ent

,
Adj.
[L.
praecedens
,
-entis
, p. pr. of
praecedere
: cf. F.
précédent
. See
Precede
.]
Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent;
as,
precedent
services
.
Shak.
“A precedent injury.”
Bacon.
Condition precedent
(Law)
,
a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right.

Prec′e-dent

,
Noun.
1.
Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example.
Examples for cases can but direct as
precedents
only.
Hooker.
2.
A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign.
[Obs.]
3.
A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy.
[Obs.]
Shak.
4.
(Law)
A judicial decision which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases; an authority to be followed in courts of justice; forms of proceeding to be followed in similar cases.
Wharton.
Syn. – Example; antecedent.
–
Precedent
,
Example
. An example in a similar case which may serve as a rule or guide, but has no authority out of itself. A precedent is something which comes down to us from the past with the sanction of usage and of common consent. We quote examples in literature, and precedents in law.

Webster 1828 Edition

Precedent

PRECE'DENT

,
Adj.
Going before in time; anterior; antecedent; as precedent services; a precedent fault of the will.
The world, or any part thereof, could not be precedent to the creation of man.
A precedent condition, in law, is a condition which must happen or be performed before an estate or some right can vest, and on failure of which the estate or right is defeated.

Definition 2024

precedent

precedent

See also: précédent and précèdent

English

Alternative forms

Noun

precedent ‎(plural precedents)

  1. An act in the past which may be used as an example to help decide the outcome of similar instances in the future.
    • Hooker
      Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only.
  2. (law) A decided case which is cited or used as an example to justify a judgment in a subsequent case.
  3. (obsolete, with definite article) The aforementioned (thing).
  4. The previous version.
  5. (obsolete) A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

precedent ‎(not comparable)

  1. Happening or taking place earlier in time; previous or preceding. [from 14th c.]
  2. (now rare) Coming before in a particular order or arrangement; preceding, foregoing. [from 15th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.2.1.i:
      In the precedent section mention was made, amongst other pleasant objects, of this comeliness and beauty which proceeds from women […].

Translations

Verb

precedent ‎(third-person singular simple present precedents, present participle precedenting, simple past and past participle precedented)

  1. (transitive, law) To provide precedents for.
  2. (transitive, law) To be a precedent for.

See also

Catalan

Noun

precedent m ‎(plural precedents)

  1. precedent

Old French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin praecēdēns. Compare Middle French preceder.

Adjective

precedent m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular precedent or precedente)

  1. preceding; that comes before
    • 1303, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine):
      Fievre ethique vient sans fievre precedente
      Ethical[?] fever comes without a preceding fever

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French, from Latin praecēdēns, present participle of praecēdere ‎(“to precede”); See precede.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, adjective) IPA(key): /pɹᵻˈsiː.dənt/
  • (UK, noun) enPR: prĕ'sĭ-dənt, IPA(key): /ˈpɹɛ.sᵻ.dənt/
  • (US, adjective) IPA(key): /pɹiˈsidn̩t/
  • (US, noun) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɛsədn̩t/
  • (Australia, noun) IPA(key): /ˈpɹi.sɪ.dənt/
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