Came before something else in time, order, or position; went ahead of something or someone.
From Latin 'praecedere,' where 'prae-' means before and 'cedere' means to go or yield. The idea is of going before someone else.
The words 'precede' and 'cede' share the root 'cedere' (to go)—so if you 'precede' a meeting, you go before it, and if you 'cede' territory, you go away from it and yield it to someone else.
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