The Latin root word ced means “go.”
When one thing precedes another, it “goes” before it. In law, a precedent is a legal decision that has “gone” before or has been legally enacted in the past, and can now be used as a standard or example by which to judge current and future cases. Sometimes states threaten to secede, or “go” apart from the United States to form a separate nation; during the American Civil War, for instance, the South seceded or “went” apart from the Union, an act which began the Civil War.
Antecede, like precede, also means “goes” before. An antecedent is an ancestor, or a person in your family who has “gone” before you. A grammatical antecedent is the noun that “goes” before the relative pronoun; for instance, in the sentence “I shuddered at the Balrog who ate Gandalf,” the antecedent is “Balrog,” to which the relative pronoun “who” refers.
What happens when a man’s hair recedes? It begins to “go” back! Some may wish that destiny would intercede or “go” between them and their receding hair line, hoping for a miracle and sudden restoration. Others may opt for a medical procedure, or a “going” forth, in this case the grafting of hair upon their steadily balding pates. Some resigned men simply accede to the inevitable, valiantly “going” towards their hairless destiny.
Enough has now been “said” about the root ced; it has “gone” towards your ears with plenty of procedural accuracy, so now I will “go” no further!
- precede: to ‘go’ before
- precedent: that which ‘goes’ before to set an example or standard to be subsequently followed
- secede: to ‘go’ apart
- antecedent: that which ‘goes’ before
- recede: to ‘go’ back
- intercede: to ‘go’ between
- procedure: a ‘going’ forth
- accede: to ‘go’ towards