Etymograph

English

precedent

Precedent comes from Latin praecēdēns ‘preceding’, from cēdō ‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kezdō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdō1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō1‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecēdō2as praecēdere, present participle‘to precede’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecēdēns2‘preceding’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596precedent2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin praecedo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English precedent
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “My Lord Melun, let this be copied out, I…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdōWiktionary, Latin praecedoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdōWiktionary, Latin praecedo‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecēdōWiktionary, English precedentas praecēdere, present participle‘to precede’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecēdēnsWiktionary, English precedent‘preceding’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596precedentWiktionary, English precedent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “My Lord Melun, let this be copied out, I…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *kezdō

excessive, successor, succession, successive, procession, inaccessible, recessive, 9 more

through Latin cēdō ‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’

process, success, necessary, accessible, excess, succeed, procedure, cease, concession, recession, accession, cessation, predecessor, recess, secession, concede, intercession, cede, 28 more

through Latin praecēdō ‘to precede’

precession, 1 more

Today it means

noun An act in the past which may be used as an example to help decide the outcome of similar instances in the future.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “precedent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin praecedo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kezdō / precedent

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