Meanings
present singular third person precedes · participle present preceding · participle past preceded · past preceded · alternative præcede
- transitiveTo go before, go in front of.
Cultural genocide precedes physical genocide.
3 more examples
But harm precedes not sin: onely our Foe / Tempting affronts us with his foul esteem / Of our integritie
1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLCThis is the custom of sending on a basket-woman, who is to precede the pomp at a coronation, and to strew the stage with flowers, before the great personages begin their procession.
1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IVAn interesting feature in the weeks preceding the diversions was the provision of a road-learning train to familiarise main line drivers with the alternative route.
1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 102Synonyms: forego
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo go before, go in front of.
antonym(s) of
More synonyms by meaning
verbbe earlier in time; go back further
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraecēdō
- Middle Frenchprécéder
- Englishprecede
From Middle French précéder, from Latin praecēdō, from prae- + cēdō.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι
- ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai)go before, go in front of
Arabic سَبَقَ, سَلَفَ
- سَبَقَ (sabaqa)go before, go in front of
- سَلَفَ (salafa)go before, go in front of
- قَدَمَ (qadama)go before, go in front of
- تَقَدَّمَ (taqaddama)go before, go in front of
Bulgarian предшествам, превъзхождам
- предшествам (predšestvam)go before, go in front of
- превъзхождам (prevăzhoždam)have higher rank than
Catalan precedir
- precedirgo before, go in front of
Czech předcházet
- předcházetgo before, go in front of
Dutch voorafgaan, laten voorbijgaan
- voorafgaango before, go in front of
- laten voorbijgaango before, go in front of
- passengo before, go in front of
Esperanto antaŭiri
- antaŭirigo before, go in front of
Finnish kulkea edellä, edeltää
- kulkea edellägo before, go in front of
- edeltäägo before, go in front of
- ylittää tärkeydessähave higher rank than
- olla tärkeämpihave higher rank than
- olla ylempiarvoinenhave higher rank than
French précéder, précéder
- précédergo before, go in front of
- précéderhave higher rank than
German vorangehen, vorausgehen
- vorangehengo before, go in front of
- vorausgehengo before, go in front of
- kommen vorgo before, go in front of
- rangieren vorhave higher rank than
Greek προηγούμαι
- προηγούμαι (proïgoúmai)go before, go in front of
Hebrew קָדַם
- קָדַם (kadám)go before, go in front of
Hungarian megelőz
- megelőzhave higher rank than
Indonesian memasrahkan
- memasrahkango before, go in front of
Italian precedere
- precederego before, go in front of
Japanese 先んずる
- 先んずる (sakinzuru)go before, go in front of
Latin praecēdō, praeveniō
- praecēdōgo before, go in front of
- praeveniōgo before, go in front of
Persian پیشرفتن
- پیشرفتن (pišraftan)go before, go in front of
Polish poprzedzać, poprzedzić
- poprzedzaćgo before, go in front of
- poprzedzićgo before, go in front of
Portuguese preceder, anteceder
- precedergo before, go in front of
- antecedergo before, go in front of
- precederhave higher rank than
Romanian preceda, preceda
- precedago before, go in front of
- precedahave higher rank than
Russian предше́ствовать, превосходи́ть
- предше́ствовать (predšéstvovatʹ)go before, go in front of
- превосходи́ть (prevosxodítʹ)have higher rank than
Spanish preceder, antepasar (desus.)
- precedergo before, go in front of
- antepasar (desus.)go before, go in front of
Swahili kutangulia
- kutanguliago before, go in front of
Turkish önce gelmek, önce gitmek
- önce gelmekgo before, go in front of
- önce gitmekgo before, go in front of
Ukrainian передува́ти
- передува́ти (pereduváty)go before, go in front of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with precede
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
precede. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precede
“precede.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precede. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “precede,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precede.
Source: precede on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.