"predated" in the verb sense
1. predate, precede, forego, forgo, antecede, antedate
be earlier in time go back further
"Stone tools precede bronze tools"
2. precede, predate
come before
"Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify"
3. raven, prey, predate
prey on or hunt for
"These mammals predate certain eggs"
4. predate, antedate, foredate
establish something as being earlier relative to something else
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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