predecessor English · revision 39378

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1325, Statutes of the Realm|origins=la cēdō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈpɹiːdɪsɛsə(ɹ)/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈpɹɛd.ə.sɛs.ɚ/, /ˈpɹi.də.sɛs.ɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|predecessour]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) [[bor|xno|predecessur]] and [[fro|predecesseur]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) and partly taken directly from [[la-lat|praedēcessor|t=one who has gone before]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) formed [[af|la|prae-|dēcessor|t1=before|t2=retiring official]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Skeat 1911) A ''dēcessor'' was a governor leaving his province;^(Klein 1966) the noun is from [[m|la|dēcēdō|t=to go away, depart; to die]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) itself from [[m|la|dē-|t=away]] and [[m|la|cēdō|t=to go]].^(Chambers 2014)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who comes before another in time; an ancestor: a1325, in the Statutes of the Realm.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century, in the sense of a former holder of an office,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart notes both the forms ''predecessoure'' and ''predecessor'' in Trevisa's translation of Higden's ''Polychronicon'' (before 1387).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of a former holder of an office, a title or a position, regarded in relation to a later holder, is recorded from before 1387 and became the usual one.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Two medieval senses, a leader or guide (about 1425 to 1656) and someone who takes precedence over others (about 1450), died out.^(OED 2026) From 1665 the word could refer to a thing that has been replaced by another,^(OED 2026) and in mathematics, from 1844, to the term that comes before another in a series.^(OED 2026) As Ayto notes, the word is etymologically a cousin of [[decease]], but it never took on that word's connotation of dying.^(Ayto 2005) Weekley adds that it was often used as if it were ''precessor'' or ''antecessor'', simply "one who goes before".^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1325 – an ancestor or forebear.^(OED 2026)

+ * before 1387 – a former holder of an office.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1425 – a leader or guide (obsolete by 1656).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1665 – a thing replaced by another.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1755 – Johnson: one that was in any state or place before another.^(Johnson 1755)

+ * 1844 – in mathematics, a preceding term.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who held a [[job]] or [[office]] before the present holder.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something that came before another thing and was followed or replaced by it.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An [[ancestor]] or [[forefather]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The term immediately before another in a [[sequence]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[decease]]

+ * [[successive]]

+ * [[successor]]

+ * [[cede]]

+ * [[precede]]

+ * [[ancestor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}