precede
verb (formal)- precede somebody/something
to happen before something or come before something/somebody in order 在…之前发生（或出现）；先于 the years preceding the war 战前的几年 His resignation was preceded by weeks of speculation. 在他辞职之前，有关的猜测已持续了几个星期。 She preceded me in the job. 她是我这工作的前任。 in the moments which immediately preceded the earthquake 就在地震发生之前的时刻
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- directly
- immediately
- generally
- …
- precede somebody + adv./prep.
to go in front of somebody 走在…前面 - precede something with something
to do or say something to introduce something else 以…开始（或引导）
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French preceder, from Latin praecedere, from prae ‘before’ + cedere ‘go’.