2 entries under this word
a. [Lat. præcedens, p. pr. of præcedere; Fr. précédent, Sp. & It. precedente. See PRECEDE.] Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services; a precedent fault of the will.
The world, or any part thereof, could not be precedent to the creation of man. Hale.
Precedent condition (Law), a condition preceding the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right.
n. 1. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the like kind; authoritative example. Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only. Hooker.
Sense 2. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic.
Sense 3. A rude copy which precedes a finished copy; a rough draught. [Obs.]
Sense 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.
Synonyms—Example; antecedent.—PRECEDENT, EXAMPLE. An example is 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.
So hot a speed, with such advice disposed, Such temperate order in so fierce a course, Doth want example. Shak.
No power in Venice Can alter a decree established; 'Twill be recorded for a precedent; And many an error, by the same example, Will rush into the state. Shak.