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Webster 1913 Edition

Precedent

Pre-ced′ent

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

Prec′e-dent

,
Noun.
1.
Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example.
Examples for cases can but direct as
precedents
only.
Hooker.
2.
A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign.
[Obs.]
3.
A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy.
[Obs.]
Shak.
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.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Precedent

PRECE'DENT

,
Adj.
Going before in time; anterior; antecedent; as precedent services; a precedent fault of the will.
The world, or any part thereof, could not be precedent to the creation of man.
A precedent condition, in law, is a condition which must happen or be performed before an estate or some right can vest, and on failure of which the estate or right is defeated.

Definition 2024

précèdent

précèdent

See also: precedent and précédent

French

Verb

précèdent

  1. third-person plural present indicative of précéder
  2. third-person plural present subjunctive of précéder

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