vorhergehend

Vorhergehend is a German adjective meaning preceding or prior, used to describe something that occurred before a reference point. The term is common in formal, academic, legal, and technical writing to indicate temporal order or sequence. It derives from vor- meaning before and gehend, the participle form of gehen “to go,” literally “going before.”

Usage and examples: It typically modifies nouns referring to events, sections, periods, or steps, e.g., der vorhergehende Abschnitt, die vorhergehenden Ereignisse, im vorhergehenden Zeitraum. In reports or analyses, one speaks of vorhergehende Schritte to indicate steps that occurred earlier. The phrase is especially prevalent in documents that present a chronological argument or a sequence of actions.

Nuance and relation to other terms: Vorhergehend emphasizes the order within a sequence and the fact that something lies earlier in time or in a progression. It contrasts with adverbs like zuvor, which simply indicate that something happened earlier without implying a structural relation. The opposite concept is nachfolgend or im nachfolgenden Zeitraum, referring to what comes after. Related terms include vorangehend, which can be used similarly in some contexts, and vorherig, which is less common but appears in compounds.

Etymology and usage context: The word combines vor- (“before”) with gehend (“going”), signaling movement or progression that precedes another reference point. It is favored in precise, waypoint-based descriptions such as legal provisions, historical overviews, or methodological explanations.

See also: nachfolgend, vorangehend, zuvor.