Verb
1. be earlier in time; go back further;
"Stone tools precede bronze tools"2. come before;
"Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify"3. be the predecessor of;
"Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands"4. move ahead (of others) in time or space
5. furnish with a preface or introduction;
"She always precedes her lectures with a joke""He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"