antecedent

Universal Words noun, adjective noun 1 [C] (formal) a thing or an event that exists or comes before another, and may have influenced it 2 (antecedents) [pl.] (formal) the people in sb's family who lived a long time ago SYNANCESTORS 3 [C] (grammar) a word or phrase to which the following word, especially a pronoun, refers: In 'He grabbed the ball and threw it in the air', 'ball' is the antecedent of 'it'. adjective (formal) previous: antecedent events