WordWeb Online

1. Existing or coming before
    
2. Of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office
   "a preceding member of the board";
   - past, retiring

1. Be earlier in time; go back further
   "Stone tools precede bronze tools";
   - predate, forego, antecede, antedate
    
2. Come before
   "Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify";
   - predate
    
3. Be the predecessor of
   "Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands";
   - come before
    
4. Move ahead (of others) in time or space
   - lead
    
5. Furnish with a preface or introduction
   "She always precedes her lectures with a joke";
   - preface, premise, introduce

See also: above, above-mentioned, above-named, antecedent, foregoing, introductory, old, outgoing, precedent, prefatorial, prefatory, premedical, preparative, preparatory, previous, propaedeutic, temporal relation, timing

Type of: go, lie, locomote, move, say, state, tell, travel

Antonym: follow, succeeding