antecedent

& s. [In Fr. antécédent; Sp., Port., & Ital. antecedente. From Lat. antecedens = going before, pr. par of antecedo =to go before.] A. As adjective: Preceding in point of time; prior to. derived their doctrines from antecedent writers- Duke of Somerset: Christian Theology and Modern Scepticism, xxx. 131. "Prud. I ask, then, if there was ever anything that had a being antecelent to or before God?"-Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progre , pt. ii. IMG:content-0571.png:[blocks in formation] "A duty of so mighty an influence that it is indeed the nece ary antece lent , if not also the direct cause, of a sinner's return to God." -South . 2. (Plur.) Spec.: The events of a person's bygone history sought out to test his present character or pretensions, and afford a istance in forecasting his future action. (Used sometimes also of public events instead of persons.) and it was trebly nece ary to act in the matter with entire openne , owing to so many questionable antecedents."-Froude: Hist. Eng ., vol. iv., p. 133. II. Technically : 1. Grammar. An antecedent is a word going before a relative pronoun, and to which that relative points back. In the connected clauses, "Then Saul, who also is called Paul," Saul is the antecedent to the relative who . "Which is likewise used for restrictive purposes, or to limit or explain its antecedent."-Bain: Eng. Gram. (1863), p. 23. 2. Logic : That part of a conditional propo having given consequents, and a given standard of comparison in the various degrees of augmentation and diminution which they undergo by composition and decomposition. (Rees.)