Definition

1. Verb:
   • To establish something as being earlier relative to something else: To assign a date to an event, document, or object that is earlier than the actual or accepted date.
   • To be earlier in time; to go back further: To precede something in time; to exist or occur before something else.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • The historian discovered a letter that appeared to antedate the official declaration of war. (The historian found a letter with a date suggesting it was written before the war was officially declared.)
  • Fossil evidence shows that simple life forms antedate complex ones by billions of years. (Fossil evidence proves simple life forms existed before complex ones.)
  • Do not antedate the check; it is illegal to write a date earlier than today's. (It is against the law to write a date on a check that is before the current day.)

Advanced Usage

• In historical/legal contexts: Often used to describe documents, events, or artifacts that are incorrectly or purposefully dated as older than they are.
  • The contract was antedated to avoid new tax regulations. (The contract was given an earlier date to circumvent recently enacted tax laws.)
• In chronological sequencing: Used to describe the order of events in time.
  • The invention of the wheel antedates recorded history. (The wheel was invented before events were written down.)

Variants and Related Words

• Predate (verb): A close synonym meaning to exist or occur at an earlier date. (e.g., )
• Antecedent (noun/adjective): Something that comes before; preceding. (e.g., )
• Precede (verb): To come before in time, order, or position. (e.g., )

Synonyms

• Precede: To come before.
• Predate: To be earlier in date.
• Forego: To go before (less common in temporal contexts).

Antonyms

• Postdate: To occur or be dated at a later time.
• Follow: To come after.

Verb

1. establish something as being earlier relative to something else
2. be earlier in time; go back further
   • Stone tools precede bronze tools