Question

antecedent
an·te·ced·ent
I
 /ˌæntəˈsiːdənt/  noun  ,  pl   -ents
  1 [  count  ] grammar : a word or phrase that is represented by another word (such as a pronoun)
   “John” is the antecedent of the pronoun “him” in “Mary saw John and thanked him.”
  2 [  count  ] formal : something that came before something else and may have influenced or caused it
   The events were antecedents of/to the war. [=the events helped to cause the war]
   the antecedents of rap music [=music that came before and influenced rap music]
  3 antecedents [  plural  ] formal : the people in a family who lived in past times
   He is proud of his Scottish antecedents. [=(more commonly) ancestors]
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II
  adj  
   formal   : earlier in time
   These antecedent [=prior, previous] events affected the outcome of the war.