predecessor
Etymology

From Middle English predecessour, from Old French predecesseor, from Late Latin praedēcessor, from Latin prae- + Latin dēcessor, from Latin dēcēdō (English decease).

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈpɹiːdɪsɛsə(ɹ)/
  • (Canada) IPA: /ˈpɹiːdɪsɛsɚ/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈpɹɛd.ə.sɛs.ɚ/, /ˈpɹi.də.sɛs.ɚ/
Noun

predecessor (plural predecessors)

  1. One who precedes; one who has preceded another in any state, position, office, etc.; one whom another follows or comes after, in any office or position.
    Synonyms: antecessor, ancestor
    Antonyms: successor
    Hyponym: forebear
    • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC ↗:
      I thought about my predecessor, who had died of drink and smoke; and I could have wished he had been so good as to live, and not bother me with his decease.
  2. A model or type of machinery or device which precedes the current (or later) one. Usually used to describe an earlier, outdated model.
    Antonyms: successor
    The steam engine was the predecessor of diesel and electric locomotives.
  3. (mathematics) A vertex having a directed path to another vertex
Synonyms Translations Translations


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