predecessor
pronunciation
How to pronounce predecessor in British English:
UK [ˈpriːdəsesə(r)]
How to pronounce predecessor in American English:
US [ˈpredəsesər]
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- Noun:
- one who precedes you in time (as in holding a position or office)
Word Origin
- predecessor
- predecessor: [14] Etymologically, predecessor is first cousin to decease, but it has never taken on decease’s connotations of ‘dying’. Both go back to Latin dēcēdere ‘go away’ (a compound verb based on cēdere ‘go away’, source of English cede, concede, precede, etc), whose derived noun dēcessus ‘departure’ came to be used euphemistically for ‘death’ – whence English decease [14].Combination with the prefix prae- ‘before’ with the derived dēcessor ‘leaver’ produced praedēcessor ‘one who leaves before’. Traces of this original meaning linger in English predecessor (acquired via Old French predecesseur) in the notion of ‘one who left office before the present incumbent took over’.=> cede, concede, decease, precede, proceed, succeed
- predecessor (n.)
- late 14c., "one who has held an office or position before the present holder," from Old French predecesseor "forebear" and directly from Late Latin praedecessorem (nominative praedecessor), from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + decessor "retiring official," from decess-, past participle stem of decedere "go away," also "die" (see decease (n.)). Meaning "ancestor, forefather" is recorded from c. 1400.
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. Rather than installing himself in his predecessor 's cramped interior office , he moved into spacious waterfront digs .
- 2. Similar to his predecessor , carney practices so-called " design thinking " without the buzzword 's trendiness in mind .
- 3. Lefkofsky had some stern words for his co-founder and predecessor . "
- 4. Immelt 's predecessor jack welch had a twenty-year tenure , leaving at his mandatory retirement age of 65 .
- 5. And all this was in spite of severe cost cutting by mark hurd , apotheker 's predecessor .