6 meanings: 1. an event, circumstance, etc, that happens before another 2. grammar a word or phrase to which a pronoun refers..... Click for more definitions. An antecedent is a noun or a noun phrase that gives meaning to pronouns. It is called an antecedent (the prefix ante– comes from the Latin word before or in front of) because it usually comes before the pronoun. Definition In English grammar, an antecedent is the noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to. Also known as a referent. More broadly, an antecedent may be any word in a sentence (or in a sequence of sentences) that another word or phrase refers to. An antecedent is the noun (or noun phrase) to which a pronoun refers to in a sentence. In other words, the antecedent gives meaning to the pronoun.
