Prec"e*dent (?), n.
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.
Pre*ced"ent (?), 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.
Condition precedent (Law),
a condition which precede the vesting of an estate,
or the accruing of a right.
Hear it pronounced