From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Precedent \Pre*ced"ent\, adjective [L. praecedens, -entis, p. pr. of praecedere: cf. F. pr['e]c['e]dent. See {Precede}.] Going before; anterior; preceding; antecedent; as, precedent services. --Shak. ''A precedent injury.'' --Bacon.
{Condition precedent} (Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
1. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind; an authoritative example.
Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only. --Hooker.
2. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence, a prognostic; a token; a sign. [Obs.]
3. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy. [Obs.] --Shak.
4. (Law) A judicial decision which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases; an authority to be followed in courts of justice; forms of proceeding to be followed in similar cases. --Wharton.
Syn: Example; antecedent.
Usage: {Precedent}, {Example}. An example in a similar case which may serve as a rule or guide, but has no authority out of itself. A precedent is something which comes down to us from the past with the sanction of usage and of common consent. We quote examples in literature, and precedents in law.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: preceding in time, order, or significance
noun
1: an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time [syn: {case in point}]
2: (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions [syn: {case law}, {common law}]
3: a system of jurisprudence based on judicial precedents rather than statutory laws; "common law originated in the unwritten laws of England and was later applied in the United States" [syn: {common law}, {case law}]
4: a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time)
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
87 Moby Thesaurus words for "precedent": action, ancestor, announcer, antecedent, anterior, antetype, antitype, archetype, avant-garde, award, bellwether, biotype, buccinator, bushwhacker, classic example, condemnation, consideration, criterion, decision, decree, deliverance, determination, diagnosis, dictum, doom, epitome, example, exemplar, explorer, finding, forebear, foregoer, foregoing, forerunner, former, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, fugler, genotype, groundbreaker, guide, harbinger, herald, imitatee, innovator, lead, lead runner, leader, messenger, mirror, model, order, original, paradigm, past, pathfinder, pattern, pioneer, point, precursor, predecessor, premise, previous, prior, prognosis, pronouncement, prototype, representative, resolution, rule, ruling, scout, sentence, standard, stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, type, type species, type specimen, urtext, vanguard, vaunt-courier, verdict, voortrekker, yardstick
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
PRECEDENT, noun In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Invention of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble attitude of a dirigible arbitrament.
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
PRECEDENT, noun In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Invention of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble attitude of a dirigible arbitrament.
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