precede

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English preceden,^[2][3] borrowed from Middle French preceder, modern French précéder, and directly borrowed from Latin praecēdō (“to go before”).^[4][5][6] Etymonline, the Middle English Dictionary and the Shorter Oxford call the French verb Old French,^[7][2][8] and Dictionary.com gives Latin alone.^[9] The Anglo-Norman form is recorded from 1360.^[10] The Latin verb is formed from prae- (“before”) and cēdō (“to go”),^[4][11][7] from Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to go, yield”).^[7][11] Related forms are Old Occitan precedir, Catalan precedir, Spanish preceder and Italian precedere,^[4] and in English the same Latin verb lies behind cede, concede, proceed and succeed.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To go before in time: before 1425, in a manuscript quoted by the Middle English Dictionary (MS Hunterian 95).^[4] Barnhart has "go or come before", probably before 1425,^[5] and Etymonline the early 15th century;^[7] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1325–75,^[9] and Hoad and Collins put it in the 14th century.^[13][14]

Semantic evolution

An early sense, to surpass, is recorded from about 1425 and died out in the 19th century according to the OED,^[4] in the 18th according to the Shorter Oxford;^[8] Hoad even places it first, in the 14th century.^[13] French had the sense too, from the early 15th century.^[4] Walking in front of someone is recorded from about 1475,^[4][7] and going before in rank from 1485,^[4] though Etymonline has the middle of the 15th century;^[7] Johnson (1755) gave only time and rank,^[15] and Weekley connects precedence with the elaborate ceremonial of early times.^[16] Coming earlier in an arrangement is recorded before 1552, in Leland,^[4] and to preface something with something else from 1718, in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's letters.^[4] In astronomy, from 1667, one celestial object precedes another when it lies to the west of it, a use that follows precession.^[4][8] The newspaper term precede, a short item set before a story with its latest development, is dated 1939 by Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^[6][9]

Timeline

• before 1425 – to go before in time.^[4][5]
• c. 1425 – to surpass, exceed (obsolete by 1843).^[4]
• c. 1475 – to go ahead of, move in front of.^[4]
• 1485 – to go before in rank or importance.^[4] Etymonline dates this to the mid-15th century.^[7]
• before 1552 – to go before in order or arrangement.^[4]
• 1667 – in astronomy, of a celestial object, to lie to the west of another.^[4]
• 1718 – to preface or introduce with something.^[4]
• 1939 – noun, in journalism, an item placed before a story.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To come or happen earlier than something; to antedate: Months of secret talks preceded the treaty.^[14][6][4]
2. To go or walk in front of someone: A guide preceded the visitors along the corridor.^[6][4][8]
3. To come before in order or arrangement: On the cover the title precedes the author's name.^[6][4][8]
4. To go before in rank or importance; to take precedence over.^[6][4][8]
5. To preface or introduce with something: She preceded her talk with a short apology.^[14][4][9]
6. (astronomy) Of a celestial object, to be situated to the west of another.^[4][8]
7. (obsolete, c. 1425–1843) To surpass or exceed.^[4][6][8]

Noun

1. (journalism) A brief item printed before a news story with its latest development.^[6][9]

Word family

• precedable
• unpreceded

Related words

• precedence
• precedent
• precess
• precession
• unprecedented
• cede
• concede
• proceed
• succeed
• exceed

Usage notes

The OED has a separate, obsolete verb precede, recorded about 1410–50, meaning simply "to proceed": an alteration of proceed after the prefix pre-.^[4] The Middle English Dictionary treats such uses as errors for proceden.^[2] Dictionary.com lists precede and proceed as a commonly confused pair.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray