anteceded
Was earlier than
Anteceded is the past tense of antecede, meaning to come before in time or order.
A formal or literary word, it appears most often in historical or scholarly contexts: The discovery of fire anteceded the invention of the wheel by millennia.
Something that anteceded another thing preceded or predated it.
One that comes before
- precursorSomething that comes first
- predecessorOne who came first
- ancestorPredecessor in lineage
- progenitorAncestor or originator
forebear · forefather · pioneer · herald · vanguard · trailblazer · harbinger · prototype
Existing before another
- earlierAt a prior time
- previousOccurring before another
- formerPreviously holding a position
- preliminaryBefore the main part
preparatory · foregoing · advance · initial · introductory · prefatory · anterior · pre-existing
forerunner
One that comes before
- precursorSomething that comes first
- predecessorOne who came first
- ancestorPredecessor in lineage
progenitor · forebear · forefather · pioneer · herald · vanguard · trailblazer · harbinger · prototype · archetype
prior
Existing before another
preliminary · preparatory · foregoing · advance · initial · introductory · prefatory · anterior · pre-existing · beforehand
superseded
Replaced by something newer
- replacedRemoved and substituted
- displacedShifted from proper location
- supplantedDisplaced by another
succeeded · overtaken · eclipsed · surpassed · dethroned · unseated · usurped · outmoded · outdated · outstripped