preceding

Preceding is an adjective and the present participle of the verb precede. It describes something that comes before another thing in time, order, position, or sequence. The term derives from Latin prae- “before” and cedere “to go,” and has been used in English since the Middle Ages to indicate prior position or occurrence.

As an adjective, preceding is used before nouns to denote order: for example, “the preceding chapter” or “the preceding line.” As a verb form, it appears in phrases such as “the events preceding the accident,” referring to things that happened earlier. The word is common in formal writing, documentation, and scholarly works where precise sequencing is important.

In practice, preceding has a wide range of applications. In literature and criticism, it marks the part of a text that immediately precedes another. In legal and administrative writing, “the preceding section” or “the preceding paragraph” helps organize references to earlier material. In mathematics and computer science, it often describes the term, element, or item that appears directly before another in a sequence or list. In everyday usage, it remains a straightforward way to describe things that come before others.

Preceding is typically contrasted with following, which denotes something that comes after. It is closely related to synonyms such as prior and earlier, though its emphasis is on position within a sequence rather than merely temporal recency. See also: precede, following, prior, earlier, antecedent.