Etymologically
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precedent

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈpɹɛs.ɪ.dənt/, /pɹɪˈsiː.dənt/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French precedent (“earlier in time”) (modern précédent), recorded in Old French from the 13th century,[2][3][4] and partly a direct borrowing of Latin praecēdēns (“going before, foregoing”), the present participle of praecēdō (“to go before”),[2][5][6] the verb behind precede.[3][7] That verb is formed of prae- (“before”) and cēdō (“to go”).[7][5][8] The noun was formed in English from the adjective,[2][9][5] though Merriam-Webster derives it from the Middle French noun.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, earlier in time, previous: c. 1400, in Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe.[2][3][5] The noun, a previous instance taken as an example or rule for similar cases, follows in 1427, in the Rolls of Parliament, spelt precydente.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun began in parliamentary and administrative use, where a precedent was a recorded earlier case or, concretely, a document recording past proceedings (1450–1650).[2] Its legal sense, a judicial decision that serves as an authority for later cases, is dated from 1523,[2] and the collective use, precedents taken together as a system, from 1593.[2] Other early senses died out: a sign or token (1518–93), an example to be copied, a model (1535–1754), and an original from which a copy is made, in Shakespeare's Richard III.[2][8] From 1599 a precedent could be anything that goes before another, a forerunner.[2] Johnson (1755) gave the adjective as "former; going before", with quotations from Shakespeare.[10] The adjective is now rare,[8] and the verb, recorded from 1614, survives mainly in the participle precedented.[2][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – adjective, earlier in time.[2][3]
  • 1418 – adjective, coming before in order.[2]
  • 1427 – noun, an earlier instance taken as a rule.[2][3]
  • 1450 – a document recording past proceedings (obsolete by 1650).[2]
  • 1523 – (law) a decision serving as authority for later cases.[2]
  • 1535 – a model to be followed (obsolete by 1754).[2]
  • 1593 – precedents collectively.[2]
  • 1599 – a forerunner.[2]
  • 1614 – verb, to justify by a precedent.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An earlier event or action that is taken as an example or guide for later similar cases: The ruling set a precedent for other cities.
  2. (law) A judicial decision that serves as an authority for deciding later cases; such decisions collectively.
  3. Established custom or practice: They broke with precedent by holding the meeting abroad.

Adjective

  1. (formal or rare) Going before in time or order; preceding.

Word family

  • precede
  • precedence
  • antecedent
  • cede

Usage notes

The noun is stressed on the first syllable; the adjective may also be stressed on the second.[11] Dictionary.com notes that precedents is easily confused with precedence and presidents.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins