antecedent
n
1 [C] (fml 文) thing or circumstance that is or comes before another 前事; 前情.
2 [C] (grammar) word or phrase to which a following word, esp a relative pronoun, refers 先行詞
`Which proves I'm right' is not clear unless we know the antecedent of `which'. `Which proves I'm right' 意思不清楚, 必須要知道which這一先行詞所指為何才行.
3 antecedents [pl]
person's ancestors or past life 祖先; 身世; 經(jīng)歷. antecedent, adj ~ (to sb/sth) (fml 文) previous 先前的.