antecedence / antecedents [æntɪˈsi:dən(t)s]
antecedence – n. – 1. priority, precedence; 2. a sequence of erosion events leading to the development of a drainage system
antecedents – n. pl. – 1. preceding things or circumstances; 2. grammar- a word, phrase, clause, or sentence to which another word refers; 3. history or ancestry of a person etc.; 4. logic – the statements contained in the “if” clauses of conditional propositions