antedate
nounEtymology From ante- + date.
1
Prior date; a date antecedent to another which is the actual date.
2
Obsolete anticipation
antedate
verbUK /ˈæntiˌdeɪt/
Etymology From ante- + date.
1
To occur before an event or time; to exist further back in time.
- I suppose you know all about the fearful myths antedating the coming of man to the earth—the Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu cycles—which are hinted at in the Necronomicon.1931, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, chapter 2, in The Whisperer in Darkness:
- We therefore turn to the question whether defendant's prior convictions for burglary and attempted burglary could be used as the basis for an enhancement under [California Penal Code] sections 667 and 1192.7. Both prior convictions antedate the effective date of section 667.1986, People v. Calio, 42 Cal.3d 639,644:
2 more examples
- Actually, mathematical models of multi-sector growth models antedate the Harrod-Domar and Solow-Swan aggregate models.2010, Giancarlo Gandolfo, Economic Dynamics, 4th edition, Springer, page 311:
- Dimensional analysis is a serious business in the natural sciences, where what you're measuring actually exists […]; and it even has a theorem that goes with it (Buckingham's #92;pi theorem, which like any good mathematical theorem with a name attached, apparently antedates Buckingham).2024, Jeremy Bay Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, Cambridge University Press, page 281:
2
To assign a date to a document or action earlier than the actual date.
- Tomorrow when you leav’st, what wilt thou say? / Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow?1633, John Donne, Woman's Constancy:
3
Human sciences, Lexicography, Linguistics, Sciences To find earlier citational evidence for a term.
- Furthermore, while OED entries are generally regarded as a good indication of when terms were first used in English, for 5 of the 7 terms the present research has been able to antedate OED’s earliest attestations, usually by a decade or more.2017 January, James Lambert, “A multitude of “lishes”: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, volume 38, number 3, →DOI, →ISSN:
- Derived terms
- antedatable, antedater