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precedent.

An act in the past which may be used as an example to help decide the outcome of similar instances in the future.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɹɛs.ɪ.dənt/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹiː.sɪ.dənt/Australia, Ireland/ˈpɹɛs-/Australia, Ireland/ˈpɹes.ɪ.dənt/New-Zealand
  1. An act in the past which may be used as an example to help decide the outcome of similar instances in the future.

  2. A decided case which is cited or used as an example to justify a judgment in a subsequent case.

  3. An established habit or custom.

  4. The aforementioned (thing).

    obsolete · with-definite-article
  5. The previous version.

  6. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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

adj/pɹɪˈsiː.dənt/
  1. Happening or taking place earlier in time; previous or preceding.

    not-comparable
  2. Coming before in a particular order or arrangement; preceding, foregoing.

    archaic · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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

verb
  1. To provide precedents for.

    transitive
  2. To be a precedent for.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.