an·te·ced·ent / ˌantəˈsēdnt/ • n. a thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another: some antecedents to the African novel might exist in Africa's oral traditions. ∎  (antecedents) a person's ancestors or family and social background. ∎  Gram. a word, phrase, clause, or sentence to which another word (esp. a following relative pronoun) refers. ∎  Logic the statement contained in the “if” clause of a conditional proposition. ∎ Math. the first term in a ratio.• adj. preceding in time or order; previous or preexisting. ∎  denoting a grammatical antecedent.DERIVATIVES: an·te·ced·ence n.

ANTECEDENT.
1. The words in a text, usually a noun phrase, to which a pronoun or other grammatical unit refers back. Cook is the antecedent of him in: ‘In 1772, Cook began his second voyage, which took him further south than he had ever been.’ Similarly, his second voyage is the antecedent of which. With impersonal it, this, that, which, the antecedent may be a whole clause or paragraph, as in: ‘Might not the coast of New South Wales provide an armed haven? To some people this looked good on paper, but there is no hard evidence that it did so to William Pitt or his ministers.’ Despite the implications of the name, an antecedent can follow rather than precede: ‘For his first Pacific voyage, Cook had no chronometer.’

2. In logic, the conditional element in a proposition. In If they did that, they deserve our respect, the antecedent is they did that.

antecedent XIV. — (O)F. antécédent or L. antecēdēns, -ent-, prp. of antecēdere, f. ANTE- + cēdere go, CEDE.

antecedent. In a canon the v. which first enters with the tune to be imitated is called the dux or antecedent.