antecedent - noun

someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

a preceding occurrence or cause or event

anything that precedes something similar in time

the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun

antecedent - adjective

• preceding in time or order

antecedent - thesaurus

ancestor   ascendant   ascendent   forerunner   root