antecedent

前事、前因、先例

Historians traced the antecedents of the war back fifty years.

历史学家把这场战争的前因追溯到五十年前。

前身、先驱

This small workshop was the antecedent of today's factory.

这间小工坊就是今日这座工厂的前身。

出身、家世、经历常用复数

Little is known about the candidate's family antecedents.

外界对这位候选人的家世所知甚少。

先行词文法

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number.

代名词必须与其先行词在数上一致。

先前的、在前的正式

The report ignores events antecedent to the financial collapse.

这份报告忽略了金融崩盘之前发生的事件。