precedent

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈpɹiː.sɪ.dənt/ UK /ˈpɹɛs.ɪ.dənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #14097

Meanings

1

noun
An earlier event or action used as an example or guide for later ones.

The court's ruling set an important precedent.
2

noun
(law) A past judicial decision that guides later cases.

Lawyers cited several precedents to support their argument.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an earlier event or action... case in point

2 noun · (law) a past judicial... case lawcommon law

Word family

Forms precedents

Derived forms precedencyprecedent-settingprecedentedprecedentialprecedentlessprecedentlyunprecedentunprecedentalunprecedentedunprecedently

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

dangerous precedent
an earlier decision or action that could encourage harmful similar actions later

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French, from Latin praecēdēns, present participle of praecēdere (“to precede”); See precede.

praecēdēns Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# precedent

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɹiː.sɪ.dənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɹɛs.ɪ.dənt/
**Frequency rank:** 14097

## Meanings
1. An earlier event or action used as an example or guide for later ones.
2. (law) A past judicial decision that guides later cases.

## Examples
- The court's ruling set an important precedent.
- Lawyers cited several precedents to support their argument.

## Derived Forms
- precedency
- precedent-setting
- precedented
- precedential
- precedentless
- precedently
- unprecedent
- unprecedental
- unprecedented
- unprecedently

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: praecēdēns

## Etymology
From Middle French, from Old French, from Latin praecēdēns, present participle of praecēdere (“to precede”); See precede.

## AI Etymology
Precedent comes from Middle French, from Old French, from Latin praecēdēns, present participle of praecēdere (“to precede”); See precede. The historical chain includes praecēdēns (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as precedency, precedent-setting, precedented, and precedential. In present use it covers an earlier event or action used as an example or guide for later ones and (law) A past judicial decision that guides later cases.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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