Define: Antecessor

Antecessor (noun):

1. A person or thing that precedes or comes before another in a particular sequence or order.
Example: In the number sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the antecessor of 5 is 4.

2. In genealogy, an individual who is an ancestor or forebear of a particular person or group.
Example: The antecessors of the royal family can be traced back several centuries.

3. In biology, an organism or species that existed earlier in evolutionary history and is considered to be an ancestor of a modern organism or species.
Example: The antecessors of modern humans are believed to be early hominids such as Homo erectus and Homo habilis.

4. In linguistics, a word or morpheme that is historically derived from an earlier form and has undergone phonetic or semantic changes over time.
Example: The English word “mouse” is the antecessor of the Old English word “mus,” which has evolved into its current form.

Note: The term “antecessor” is often used in technical or specialized contexts, such as mathematics, genealogy, biology, and linguistics.