Antecedent

Antecedent, a term in Logic, Grammar, and Mathematics. In Logic, it is a statement or proposition from which another is logically deduced. In Grammar, it is the substantive (word or clause) to which a relative points back. In Mathematics, we speak of the antecedent of a ratio—i.e. the first of two terms which compose the ratio; the first and third in a series of four proportionals.