ante (ante)

[ = = Skt. anti, over against, and-: see and, and-, and anti-.] A prefix of Latin origin, originally only in compounds or derivatives taken from the Latin or formed from Latin elements, as in antece or, antepenul timate, antemeridian, etc., but now a familiar English formative, formative, meaning before, either in place or in time. It forms-( a ) compound nouns, with the accent on the prefix, in which ante- has the attributive force of fore, anterior, as in antechamber, anteroom, ante date, etc.; (b) compound adjectives, with the accent on the radical element, in which ante- retains its original prepo The quality Unity is before any multiplied number. Which antecedency of unity... he [Dionysius] applieth unto the Deity. antece or There is a sense of right and wrong in our nature, ante cedent to and independent of experiences of utility. Antecedent signs, in pathol . , the precursory symptoms A. R. Wallace , Nat. Selec., p. 354. of a disease. Antecedent cause, in pathol., the exciting cause of a disease. - Antecedent probability, the probability of a supposition or hypothesis drawn from reasoning or analogy, previous to any observation or evidence which is considered as giving it a posterior i probability. See antecedently, 2. - Antecedent will, in metaph., the will to do something on condition that something else is done. Syn. See previous. II. n. 1. One who or that which goes before in time or place. He's everything indeed, My antecedent or my gentleman-usher. Mas singer, City Madam, ii. 2. Variations in the functional conditions of the parents are the antecedents of those greater unlikene es which their brothers and sisters exhibit. H. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., § 86. 2. In gram.: (a) The noun to which a relative pronoun refers: as, Solomon was the prince who built the temple, where the word prince is the antecedent of who. (b) Formerly, the noun to which a following pronoun refers, and whose repetition is avoided by the use of the pronoun. -3. In logic: (a) That member of a conditional proposition of the form, "If A is, then B is," which states, as a hypothesis, the condition of the truth of what is expre ed in the other member, termed the consequent: in the proposition given the antecedent is "if A is." The whole proposition amounts to the statement that all po ible cases of the truth of the antecedent are included among the po ible cases of the truth of the consequent. ( b ) The premise of a consequence, or syllogism in the first figure with the major premise suppre ed. Thus, the argument, "A syllogism has never existed in sensu, therefore it does not exist in intellectu," is a consequence, its premise is the antecedent, and its con clusion the consequent. (c) An event upon which another event follows. So used particularly by nominalists. An invariable antecedent, with J. S. Mill, is an event upon which another follows according to an invariable rule or uniformity of nature. It does not, therefore, mean (as might be supposed) an event of a kind which antecedes every occurrence of another kind of event. Thus, lightning is not an invariable antecedent of thunder, for thunder does not always follow it; and this although lightning antecedes thunder whenever thunder 4. In math., the first of two terms of a ratio, or that which is compared with the other. Thus, if the ratio is that of 2 to 3, or of a to b, 2 or a is the antecedent.-5. In music, a pa age proposed to be answered as the subject of a fugue. -6. pl. The earlier events or circumstances of one's life; one's origin, previous course, a ociations, conduct, or avowed principles. IMG:content-0825.png:[graphic] is heard. We have learned lately to speak of men's antecedents: the phrase is newly come up; and it is common to say, "if we would know what a man really now is, we must know his antecedents ," that is, what he has been in past time. Abp. Trench.