predecessor
noun
pre·de·ces·sor
ˈpre-də-ˌse-sər 
ˈprē-;
ˌpre-də-ˈse-,
ˌprē-
1
: one that precedes
especially
: a person who has previously occupied a position or office to which another has succeeded
2
archaic
: ancestor
Examples of predecessor in a Sentence
Today's computers are much faster than their predecessors were.
the once-ubiquitous typewriter was the predecessor of today's electronic keyboard
Recent Examples on the Web
No Democrat has represented its predecessor districts, which cover much of the same territory, since 1979.
—
Taylor Millard, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
The president on Tuesday again pushed back applying a ban on the app, which had been decided under his predecessor Joe Biden.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2025
The iPhone 17 base model in particular has outperformed expectations, as the pricing at launch remained unchanged from its predecessor despite upgrades in memory storage, Chiew said.
—Dylan Butts,shreya Ghosal,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025
Lecornu’s predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament last week over his plan for a 44 billion euro budget squeeze.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predecessor
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Taylor Millard, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
The president on Tuesday again pushed back applying a ban on the app, which had been decided under his predecessor Joe Biden.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2025
The iPhone 17 base model in particular has outperformed expectations, as the pricing at launch remained unchanged from its predecessor despite upgrades in memory storage, Chiew said.
—Dylan Butts,shreya Ghosal,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025
Lecornu’s predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament last week over his plan for a 44 billion euro budget squeeze.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predecessor
Cite this Entry
“Predecessor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predecessor. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
predecessor
noun
pre·de·ces·sor
ˈpred-ə-ˌses-ər
ˈprēd-
ˈprēd-
: one that precedes
especially
: a person who has held a position or office before another
Etymology
Middle English predecessour "predecessor," from early French predecesseur (same meaning), from Latin praedecessor "one that goes before," from prae- "before, pre-," and decessor "retiring governor," from decedere "to depart," from de- "from" and cedere "to go, go away" — related to ancestor, concede
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