predecessor
One who precedes; one who has preceded another in any state, position, office, etc.; one whom another follows or comes after, in any office or position.
Other meanings
A model or type of machinery or device which precedes the current (or later) one. Usually used to describe an earlier, outdated model.
“The steam engine was the predecessor of diesel and electric locomotives.”
A vertex having a directed path to another vertex
Synonyms
- ancestor
- precursor
Related words
- predecessoress
- predecessorial
- predecessorship
- predecessory
Word history
From Latin "dēcēdō" (to retire, to die).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “predecessor” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.