GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Precedent , a. [L. praecedens, -entis, p. pr. of praecedere: cf. F. précédent. See Precede.] Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services. Shak. “A precedent injury.”
   Bacon.
   
   1913 Webster
   Condition precedent (Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right.
   1913 Webster
   
         
       

2.       
   Precedent , n.
    Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example.
   1913 Webster
   Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only.
   Hooker.
   
   1913 Webster
   A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign. [Obs.]
   1913 Webster
   A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy. [Obs.]
   Shak.
   
   1913 Webster
   (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.
   
   1913 Webster
   Syn. -- Example; antecedent.  -- Precedent, Example. An example in 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.
   1913 Webster