precedent
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.an action or decision from the past that is used as a guide for similar situations later.
n.an act or instance that may be used as an example or standard in subsequent similar cases.
Simple“The company's decision to allow remote work set a precedent for other businesses in the city.”
In context“The CEO was reluctant to grant the exception, fearing it would create a precedent that other employees would cite during future negotiations.”
UsageOften used with the verb 'set' or 'follow'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a previous court decision that judges must follow in new, similar cases.
n.a judicial decision that serves as an authority for deciding a later case involving identical or similar facts.
Simple“The judge looked at a precedent from 1995 to help him decide the current case.”
In context“Legal counsel argued that the 1924 ruling established a binding precedent that the lower court was not at liberty to ignore.”
UsageCommonly modified by 'legal', 'binding', or 'judicial'.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
adj.happening or coming before something else in time.
adj.preceding in time, order, or importance.
Simple“The two parties reached an agreement without any precedent discussion of the costs.”
In context“The researcher examined the precedent events that led to the collapse of the treaty, focusing on the diplomatic failures of the previous decade.”
UsageUsually placed before the noun it modifies.
Antonyms
“As the first of India's 30 planned river-linking projects, it could set a precedent for how people displaced by the projects that follow are compensated.”
“One long-running campaign he pursued, against British Telecom, was perhaps a precedent for the current debate about the impact of the internet.”
From Middle French, from Old French, from Latin praecēdēns, present participle of praecēdere (“to precede”); See precede.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.