antedate

1 of 2

noun

an·​te·​date ˈan-ti-ˌdāt 

: a date assigned to an event or document earlier than the actual date of the event or document

antedate

2 of 2

verb

an·​te·​date ˈan-ti-ˌdāt 

ˌan-ti-ˈdāt

antedated; antedating; antedates

transitive verb

1

a

: to date as of a time prior to that of execution

b

: to assign to a date prior to that of actual occurrence

2

archaic : anticipate

3

: to precede in time

Did you know?

Dinosaurs antedated the first human beings by almost 65 million years, though this stubborn fact never used to stop cartoonists and screenwriters from having the two species inhabit the same story line. Dictionary editors are constantly noticing how the oral use of a word may antedate its first appearance in print by a number of years. Antedating a check or a contract isn't illegal unless it's done for the purpose of fraud (the same is true of its opposite, postdating).

Synonyms

Verb

• antecede
• forego
• precede
• predate
• preexist

Examples of antedate in a Sentence

Verb

The church antedates the village itself.

dinosaurs antedate humans by millions of years

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

In truth, however, Italy’s migration policies antedate Salvini by at least two years, and represent an ugly consensus generally if more quietly shared by many powers in the EU. —Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 17 Oct. 2019

His theatrically posed male nudes were antedated by George Platt Lynes’s. —Arthur Lubow, New York Times, 25 July 2019

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1568, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Kids Definition

antedate

verb

an·​te·​date

ˈant-i-ˌdāt

1

: to date with a date earlier than that of actual writing

antedate a check

2

: to come before in time

automobiles antedate airplanes