precede
pri seed
- v be earlier in time; go back further
Stone tools precede bronze tools - v come before
Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify - v be the predecessor of
Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands - v move ahead (of others) in time or space
- v furnish with a preface or introduction
She always precedes her lectures with a joke
- The Queen put up no resistance to the government's proposal to abolish primogeniture (an eldest son's right to precede an older sister to the throne).
- Some of the pilgrims who precede and follow him will no doubt come out of idle curiosity.
- For some reason, knowledge of his racial pedigree had to precede even the mention of his politics--as if the pedigree inevitably explained the politics.