Antecedent Word or Antecedent Phrase

Antecedent:

Antecedent is a noun in English language and its literal meaning is something that exists before a certain time or thing. In other words, when something precedes another, it is known as antecedent.

Antecedent (grammar):

In English grammar, antecedent has somewhat similar meaning. A word or phrase is said to be antecedent if it gives its meaning to another word that is pro-form or a pronoun used afterwards in the text.

Example:

Samantha ate the whole pie all by herself.

In the above simple example, the noun Samantha is the antecedent of the pro-form herself because the pronoun herself used later in the sentence is referring to Samantha.

Explicitly, an antecedent is a word or phrase that is referred back to in a text by a relative pronoun or any other relative word in the same text.

Example:

She went back inside to get the umbrella which she had accidently left in the balcony.

In the above example, the umbrella is the antecedent of the relative pronoun which.