precede, v.
(prɪˈsiːd)
Also 5 presede, 6–8 preceed, præcede, 7 precead, præceed.
[a. F. précéder (14th c. in Littré), ad. L. præcēdĕre to go before, precede, excel: see pre- A and cede.]
† 1. trans. To go before or beyond (another) in quality or degree; to surpass, excel; to exceed.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 177 Ymang birthis þat weman bare Þane Iohne baptiste vas nane mare; For he al vthyre in þat precedis, And ewine is to þame in gud dedis. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 150 Men in the feruencie of deuotion did not precede the weaker sex. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 84 Through the enfoldings of the stranger's modesty, Mr. Fenton discerned many things preceding the vulgar rank of men. |
2. To go before in rank or importance; to occupy a position before or above; to take precedence of.
| 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 14 The other grete lordes that shal be there precedyng your degree. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 117 The Colonels companie preceedeth all others of his regiment. a 1677 Barrow Pope's Suprem. (1680) 285 Such a reason of precedence S. Cyprian giveth in another case, Because..Rome for its magnitude ought to precede Carthage. 1819 Rees Cycl. s.v. Precedence, All the sons of viscounts and barons are allowed to precede baronets. 1839 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. vii. 99, I have another short engagement, which ought to precede yours. |
3. To go or come before in order or arrangement; to stand or be placed before or in front of.
| 1494 [see preceding a]. 1530 [see 4]. a 1552 Leland Itin. V. 56 Rethelan,..cummith of Rethe,..and Glan..; when Glan is set with a Worde præceding G is explodid. 1673 W. Mountagu in Buecleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 320 One for the Duchess of Portsmouth, preceded with a patent of indenization. 1756 J. Warton Ess. Pope (1782) I. v. 267 Those [prologues] of Dryden..may precede any play whatsoever, even tragedy or comedy. 1879 Bain Higher Eng. Gram. 145 When the adjective ends in y preceded by a consonant, the y is changed into i. |
4. To go before, to move in front of; to walk or proceed in advance of.
| 1530 Palsgr. 664/1, I precede, I go byfore another to a place or in order. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. i. 122 As harbingers preceding still the fates. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 55. 352 Streamers..preceded a Cart, wherein were placed three large Figures. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlv. (1869) II. 677 Terror preceded his march. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 85, I sometimes preceded him in cutting the steps. |
b. Astr. Said of a star, etc. which in the apparent diurnal rotation of the heavens rises before and moves in front of another, i.e. which is situated to the west of it. (See also preceding c.)
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Pisces, Names and situation of the stars{ddd}1st of those preceding the square under the southern fish. [1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea (Low) vi. §313 Canopus and Sirius..are high up in their course; they look down with great splendour..as they precede the Southern Cross on its western way.] |
5. To come before in time; to happen, occur, or exist before; to be earlier than or anterior to.
| a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 274/1 And Duns saith, that there is a mollifieng, that precedeth grace, whiche hee calleth attrition. 1581 Nowell & Day in Confer. i. (1584) E iij, Workes doe not preceede a man to be iustified, but doe follow him being iustified. 1653 Ld. Vaux tr. Godeau's St. Paul 161 He told them of signes which should preceed the day of Judgement. 1772 Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 13 Infinite duration must have preceded the present moment. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 40 The century preceding the formation of the Hanseatic federation. |
6. intr. or (now only) absol. (in senses 2–5): To go or come before (in rank, order, place, or time); to have precedence; to be anterior.
| a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 278/2 Whether..the will of God is alonely the cause of election, or els any merite of man precedyng afore. 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 123 Who..precedes now in the universal Government of Christ's flock by the name of Urban the Eight. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 640 Till then the Curse pronounc't on both precedes. 1707 E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. ii. xiv. (ed. 22) 185 The Colonel thereof is always to precede as the first Colonel. 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 506 To your pretence their title would precede. Mod. A statement different from anything that precedes or follows. |
7. trans. in causal sense: To cause to be preceded (by); to preface, introduce (with or by).
| 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 10 Mar., The emperor precedes his visit by a royal present. 1794 A. M. Bennett Ellen IV. 51 The old man..never..addressed her, without preceding Winifred with Mrs. or Miss. a 1834 Coleridge Notes & Lect. (1849) I. 222 No modern writer would have dared, like Shakspeare, to have preceded this last visitation by two distinct appearances. 1892 Pall Mall G. 31 Mar. 4/3 If it was the intention of the Government to postpone the dissolution until September or later, they would undoubtedly have to precede that by a measure of registration. |
¶ 8. Erron. used for proceed. Obs. rare.
| ? 13.. Cast. Love (Halliw.) 1455 In the Fadur nome and the Sone allso, And in the Holigostys that precedit hem fro [Vernon MS. glit of hem bo]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 89 Ageynes whom as ofte as þe kyng precede [procederet], þe erle Edrik counseille nouȝt [dissuasit] to ȝeve bataille. |