an ‧ te ‧ ced ‧ ent /ˌæntəˈsiːd ə nt, ˌæntɪˈsiːd ə nt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: present participle of antecedere , from ante- ( ⇨ ↑ ante- ) + cedere 'to go' ]
1 . formal an event, organization, or thing that is similar to the one you have mentioned but existed earlier:
historical antecedents
2 . antecedents [plural] formal the people in your family who lived a long time ago SYN ancestors
3 . technical a word, phrase, or sentence that is represented by another word, for example a ↑ pronoun
—antecedent adjective