proceeded

Proceeded is the past tense and past participle of the verb proceed. It indicates that someone or something moved forward, continued along a plan, or began the next stage of an action. In narrative and formal writing, proceeded often signals a transition to subsequent steps, as in “The team proceeded with the project” or “The manager proceeded to announce the results.”

Origin and form: proceed derives from Latin procedere, via Old French proceder; the sense is “to go forward.” The pronunciation is typically prə-SEED-ed, with the “ceed” syllable sounding like “seed.” The spelling does not change except for the standard -ed ending in the past tense; it is not related to precede, which means to come before.

Usage notes: Proceeded is used with various prepositions depending on meaning. With to + infinitive, it introduces the next action: “proceeded to explain”; with with, it describes ongoing effort: “proceeded with the plan.” In legal writing, “the proceedings” refer to the sequence of actions in a case, and “the case proceeded to trial” means it advanced to that stage.

Common confusions: Do not confuse proceed with precede; the former means forward movement, the latter means coming before. Spelling errors include “preceeded” or “procede.” Examples illustrate its use in both ordinary and formal contexts: “The committee proceeded with its agenda” and, in a legal context, “the proceedings proceeded to a hearing.”