Thesaurus: precedent

Related headwords

Definitions

1. a. Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services.
2. n. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example.
3. n. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign.
4. n. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy.
5. n. 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.
6. adj. preceding in time, order, or significance
7. n. an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time
8. n. (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions
9. n. a system of jurisprudence based on judicial precedents rather than statutory laws
10. n. a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time)
11. Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services. Shak. "A precedent injury." Bacon. Condition precedent (Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right. 1. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example. Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only. Hooker. 2. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign. [Obs.] 3. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy. [Obs.] Shak. 4. (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. 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.
12. Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedentservices. Shak. "A precedent injury." Bacon. Condition precedent(Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or theaccruing of a right.