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to antedate

to antedate

1 8.7
To happen before another event or to put an earlier date on something
  • verb
  • /ˈæntɪˌdeɪt/
translation icon : anteceder
  • This ancient manuscript antedates the invention of the printing press by several centuries.

Examples

  • However, there are three sculptures, now in the National Museum, Lagos, which could well antedate this period.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Civil defense groups known as rondas antedate the current armed conflict.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Being French antedates the French Revolution and is independent of it.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The rationale behind the resulting maritime strategy antedated the Reagan administration.

    Academic text (1990)
  • But a fairly extensive search through various online archives only antedated the OED's citation by two years, to 1936.

    Blog text (29)
  • It antedates those statues by 1,000 years.

  • Actually, Wilson's political involvement antedated the Curragh affair itself.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The first is the era of Spanish colonization in Georgia, which antedated Oglethorpe by something like 200 years.

    Academic text (2013)
  • And Israel's politicians are rooted in a culture of vehement argument that antedates Zionism itself.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Their early adult years were marked by child-rearing (mothers of the baby boom) and antedated the women's movement.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

to precede
vsto antedate
107 4.1

Happen before something else in time or order

is mainly about time or dating rather than order or position
to date back
vsto antedate
95 3.0

To come from an earlier time

also can mean assigning an earlier formal date rather than only originating earlier
to predate
vsto antedate
41 5.8

To exist or happen before another thing

also means to give an earlier date to something
to preexist
vsto antedate
11 6.9

To be present before a certain time or event

can also mean to give an earlier calendar date, not only prior existence
to forego
vsto antedate
  • Archaic
1 7.2

To come before something in time

also can mean assigning an earlier date rather than just occurring earlier
to foredate
vsto antedate
  • Formal
9.1

Put an earlier day on a document than its real one

also means simply to happen or exist earlier in time
to antecede
vsto antedate
  • Formal
8.7

To happen before something else in time

can also mean giving an earlier calendar date to something
to outdate
vsto antedate
5.6

To be older than another thing in time

is also used when assigning an earlier date, not only being older

Antonyms

1.0

To come after something in time or order

1 6.5

To say that something happened after another event

Surface Forms

antedate infinitive
antedated past
antedated past participle
antedating present participle
antedates third person singular

Morphology

antedate = date (transparent) = ante + date

The prefix 'ante-' meaning 'before' combined with 'date' clearly indicates the meaning of assigning an earlier date.

Etymology

Antedate is made of ante- and date, where ante- means 'before' and date is the same 'date' you see on a calendar. So, to antedate something is to say it happened earlier than another thing or to give it an earlier date.