Meaning & use
predate
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To have existed or happened before something else, or to be older than it.
Grammar: Takes an object: the church predates the village, not predates to the village.
Patterns
- something predates something
The town's oldest bridge predates the railway by two centuries.
Her interest in painting predates her move to Spain.
Many legends predate written history.
verbtransitive
To date a document or event as earlier than it really is, by giving it an earlier date.
Grammar: Takes an object: predate the check, usually on purpose.
Patterns
- predate something
The clerk was fired for predating the contract.
It is illegal to predate a letter so that it looks older.
verbtransitive or intransitivebiologytechnical
Of an animal, to hunt and eat other animals.
Grammar: Often followed by on: owls predate on small rodents.
Patterns
- predate on something
Foxes predate on ground-nesting birds in the area.
Some wasps predate caterpillars to feed their young.
Word forms
| third person singular | predates |
|---|---|
| past tense | predated |
| past participle | predated |
| -ing form | predating |
Common combinations
- predate the arrival of
- These customs predate the arrival of settlers.
- predate by centuries
- The temple predates the palace by centuries.
- long predate
- Their friendship long predates the company.
- predate written records
- The cave paintings predate written records.
- predate on
- Seabirds predate on the eggs of other species.
Synonyms and how they differ
- precede
- Precede is more general and can describe order in space or sequence, whereas predate speaks specifically of earlier time.
- antedate
- Antedate is a rarer, more formal word with the same meaning as predate.
- come before
- Come before is the plain phrase and can be used in lists or rankings, not just dates.
- backdate
- Backdate means to make a document take effect from an earlier date, which is different from simply existing earlier.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: predate or predict? predate or predator?
predate vs predict
Predict means to say what will happen in the future; predate means to be earlier in time.
predate vs predator
Predator is the noun for the hunter, whereas predate is the verb with two unrelated meanings.
Practice
The cathedral ___ the nearby university by about a hundred years.
Choose one answer.
Predates means is older than. Postdates would reverse the time order, predicts concerns the future, and outlives is about lasting longer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “predate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.