Definitions for predecessor
ˈprɛd əˌsɛs ər; esp. Brit. ˈpri də-pre·de·ces·sor

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. predecessornoun

   one who precedes you in time (as in holding a position or office)

2. harbinger, forerunner, predecessor, herald, precursornoun

   something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. predecessornoun

   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.

2. predecessornoun

   A model or type of machinery or device which precedes the current one. Usually used to describe an earlier, outdated model.

   The steam engine was the predecessor of diesel and electric locomotives.

3. predecessornoun

   A vertex having a directed path to another vertex

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Predecessornoun

   Etymology: predecesseur, Fr. præ and decedo, Lat.

   1. One that was in any state or place before another.

   In these pastoral pastimes, a great many days were spent to follow their flying predecessors. Philip Sidney.

   There is cause, why we should be slow and unwilling to change, without very urgent necessity, the ancient ordinances, rites and long approved customs of our venerable predecessors. Richard Hooker.

   If I seem partial to my predecessor in the laurel, the friends of antiquity are not few. Dryden.

   The present pope, who is well acquainted with the secret history, and the weakness of his predecessor, seems resolved to bring the project to its perfection. Addison.

   The more beauteous Cloe sat to thee,
   Good Howard, emulous of Apelles’ art;
   But happy thou from Cupid’s arrow free,
   And flames that pierc’d thy predecessor ’s heart. Matthew Prior.

   2. Ancestors.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. predecessor

   A predecessor is a person, entity or thing that held a role, position or office before the current occupant, or that came before in time, sequence or development. It's something that has been superseded or replaced by something else. This term can be used in various contexts such as history, computing, mathematics or business.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Predecessornoun

   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

2. Etymology: [L. praedecessor; prae before + decessor one who withdraws from the province he has governed, a retiring officer (with reference to his successor), a predecessor, fr. decedere: cf. F. prdcesseur. See Decease.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Predecessor

   prē-dē-ses′or, n. one who has been before another in any office.—v.t. Predecess′ (rare), to precede.—adj. Predeces′sive. [L. præ, before, decessor, a retiring officer, decedĕre, decessum, to withdraw—de, away, cedĕre.]

Matched Categories

1. • Indication
   • Precursor

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'predecessor' in Nouns Frequency: #2171

Anagrams for predecessor »

1. reprocessed

How to pronounce predecessor?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say predecessor in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of predecessor in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of predecessor in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of predecessor in a Sentence

1. Frederick Douglas:

   It is not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor and each simple in itself. If, after doing so, one simply knocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience with the starting-point and the conclusion, one may produce a startling, though perhaps a meretricious, effect.

2. Joe Biden:

   Blaming Trump for the Iran policy impasse is old news, the Biden administration promised early in 2021 to make sure politics stops at water’s edge. Going to Israel and invoking the evolving Iranian nuclear threat as being the result of his predecessor does the exact opposite.

3. Crispin Blunt:

   My office's calculation based on an in-service date of 2028 and a missile extension until 2060... the total cost is 167 billion pounds, the successor Trident program is going to consume more than double the proportion of the defense budget of its predecessor... The price required, both from the UK taxpayer and our conventional forces, is now too high to be rational or sensible.

4. Adam Schiff:

   This is not something that should be done off-the-cuff by the President of the United States just looking for a cheap shot at his predecessor.

5. Washington Post:

   Biden presented himself as an antidote to his predecessor, offering the promise of what his own campaign ads called ‘strong, steady, stable leadership’ after four years of bedlam under President Donald Trump. But the tumult surrounding the administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan offered an early glimpse of the cascade of crises that have badly eroded Biden’s image of restoring calm.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=predecessor
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Predecessor
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=predecessor
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predecessor
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=predecessor