predecessor

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A person who held a job or position before someone else.

   The new manager continued the projects started by her predecessor.

2. 2
   noun

   An earlier model or version that came before the current one.

   The steam engine was the predecessor of the diesel locomotive.

Simplified etymology

Predecessor entered English in the late Middle English period and belongs to the family of Latin cedere, “to yield, give way, go.” It denoted one who had gone away before.

From Middle English predecessour, from Old French predecesseor (“forebear”), from Late Latin praedēcessor, from Latin prae- (“pre-”) + Latin dēcessor (“retiring officer”), from Latin dēcēdō (“to retire, to die”) (English decease).

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External links

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