From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpredatepre‧date /priːˈdeɪt/ verb [transitive] BEFOREto happen or exist earlier in history than something else The kingdom predates other African cultures by over 3,000 years.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
predate• The major part of these changes predate 1981.• At first, they rolled tires from crucible steel, a method predating Bessemer and the other recent innovations.• Stone knives predate bows and arrows.• Many economic systems predate capitalism.• Corning is a very old technique for preserving meats, predating commercial refrigeration.• A strong concern about physical appearance seems to predate the development of anorexia nervosa.• The steam engine predates the internal combustion engine by at least 100 years.• Rather these are mental health problems which predate the onset of later life.• The adhesion function of IgSF members is believed to predate their role in antigen recognition. 