a. Preceding; antecedent; previous. [ Obs. ] Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Preceded; p. pr. & vb. n. Preceding. ] [ L. praecedere, praecessum; prae before + cedere to go, to be in motion: cf. F. préceder. See Pre-, and Cede. ] 1. To go before in order of time; to occur first with relation to anything. “Harm precedes not sin.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To go before in place, rank, or importance. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; -- used with by or with before the instrumental object. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It is usual to precede hostilities by a public declaration. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Cf. F. précédence. See Precede. ] 1. The act or state of preceding or going before in order of time; priority; as, one event has precedence of another. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or state of going or being before in rank or dignity, or the place of honor; right to a more honorable place; superior rank; as, barons have precedence of commoners. [ 1913 Webster ]

Which of them [ the different desires ] has the precedency in determining the will to the next action? Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Antecedence; priority; preëminence; preference; superiority. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. praecedens, -entis, p. pr. of praecedere: cf. F. précédent. See Precede. ] Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services. Shak. “A precedent injury.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Condition precedent (Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example. [ 1913 Webster ]

Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) A judicial decision which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases; an authority to be followed in courts of justice; forms of proceeding to be followed in similar cases. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Example; antecedent. -- Precedent, Example. An example in a similar case which may serve as a rule or guide, but has no authority out of itself. A precedent is something which comes down to us from the past with the sanction of usage and of common consent. We quote examples in literature, and precedents in law. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a precedent; authorized or sanctioned by an example of a like kind. Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of the nature of a precedent; having force as an example for imitation; as, precedential transactions. [ 1913 Webster ]

All their actions in that time are not precedential to warrant posterity. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Beforehand; antecedently. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Going before; -- opposed to following. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) In the direction toward which stars appear to move. See Following, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ See Precellence. ] To surpass; to excel; to exceed. [ Obs. ] Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ L. praecellentia, from praecellens, p. pr. of praecellere to excel, surpass: cf. OF. precellence. ] Excellence; superiority. [ Obs. ] Sheldon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. praecellens, p. pr. ] Excellent; surpassing. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praecentor, fr. praecinere to sing before; prae before + canere to sing. See Chant. ] A leader of a choir; a directing singer. Specifically: (a) The leader of the choir in a cathedral; -- called also the chanter or master of the choir. Hook. (b) The leader of the congregational singing in Scottish and other churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of a precentor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praeceptum, from praecipere to take beforehand, to instruct, teach; prae before + capere to take: cf. F. précepte. See Pre-, and Capacious. ] 1. Any commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authoritative rule of action; esp., a command respecting moral conduct; an injunction; a rule. [ 1913 Webster ]

For precept must be upon precept. Isa. xxviii. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

No arts are without their precepts. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A command in writing; a species of writ or process. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Commandment; injunction; mandate; law; rule; direction; principle; maxim. See Doctrine. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To teach by precepts. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Preceptive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Passion ] would give preceptial medicine to rage. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praeceptio. ] A precept. [ R. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. praeceptivus. ] Containing or giving precepts; of the nature of precepts; didactic; as, the preceptive parts of the Scriptures. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lesson given us here is preceptive to us. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praeceptor, fr. praecipere to teach: cf. F. précepteur. See Precept. ] 1. One who gives commands, or makes rules; specifically, the master or principal of a school; a teacher; an instructor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The head of a preceptory among the Knights Templars. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a preceptor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Preceptive. “A law preceptory.” Anderson (1573). [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Preceptories [ LL. praeceptoria an estate assigned to a preceptor, from L. praeceptor a commander, ruler, teacher, in LL., procurator, administrator among the Knights Templars. See Preceptor. ] A religious house of the Knights Templars, subordinate to the temple or principal house of the order in London. See Commandery, n., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman who is the principal of a school; a female teacher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praecedere, praecessum, to go before: cf. F. précession. See Precede. ] The act of going before, or forward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lunisolar precession. (Astron.) See under Lunisolar. --
Planetary precession, that part of the precession of the equinoxes which depends on the action of the planets alone. --
Precession of the equinoxes (Astron.), the slow backward motion of the equinoctial points along the ecliptic, at the rate of 50.2″ annually, caused by the action of the sun, moon, and planets, upon the protuberant matter about the earth's equator, in connection with its diurnal rotation; -- so called because either equinox, owing to its westerly motion, comes to the meridian sooner each day than the point it would have occupied without the motion of precession, and thus precedes that point continually with reference to the time of transit and motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to pression; as, the precessional movement of the equinoxes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praecessor. ] A predecessor. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no precedent or example; not preceded by a like case; not having the authority of prior example; novel; new; unexampled. -- Un*prec"e*dent*ed*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]