From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprecedepre‧cede /prɪˈsiːd/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] formal 1 BEFOREto happen or exist before something or someone, or to come before something else in a series → preceding a type of cloud that precedes rain Lunch will be preceded by a short speech from the chairman.2 BEFOREto go somewhere before someone else The guard preceded them down the corridor.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
precede• The first chapter was preceded by a brief biography of the author.• The fire was preceded by a loud explosion.• On vehicle license plates in the UK, the numbers are preceded by a single letter.• Involvement of other mucosal sites preceded, coincided with, or followed the manifestations of the gastric lymphoma.• It was miraculous that so tender and fragile a creature had emerged from the violence of the preceding day.• The preceding discussion suggests that the operation of Keynesian fiscal policy should pose few problems.• Pay attention to the medical cautions that precede each tape.• Even preceding events had proven how mistaken they were.• There had been intensive campaigning by the proponents of each city over the preceding months.• Intention movements are activities that tend to precede some other activity, which is presumably why they often evolve into signals.• The bride and groom preceded the family out of the church.• In other words, music precedes the idea.• A planning session at 11:30 will precede the noon lunch discussion.• In English, the subject precedes the verb.Origin precede (1300-1400) French précéder, from Latin praecedere “to go in front” 