Where does “precedent” come from?
Precedent derives from Latin praecedens, from Latin praecedo, from Latin cedo meaning to go or yield, combined with Latin prae meaning before, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to go forward.
precedent (English): An act in the past which may be used as an...
Definitions
- An act in the past which may be used as an...
Ancestry of “precedent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | praecēdēns | — |
| 2 | Latin | praecēdō | — |
| 3 | Latin | prae- | before; in front; in charge |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | prai- | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | preh₂- | before, in front |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “precedent”