Difficult Words : Precept and Precedent

Difficult Words : Precept and Precedent

Precedent (PREE i dunt) n: an earlier example or model of something

Precedent is a noun form of the verb to precede or to go before.

• To set a precedent is to do something that sets an example for what may follow.

• Last year's million-dollar prom set a precedent that the current student council hopes will not be followed in the future. That is, the student council hopes that future proms won't cost a million dollars.

• To be unprecedented is to have no precedent, to be something entirely new. George's consumption of 10,677 hot dogs was unprecedented. No one had ever eaten so many hot dogs before.




Precept (PREE sept) n: a rule to live by, a principle establishing a certain kind of action or behavior; a maxim

Love the neighbor is a precept we have sometimes found difficult to follow. Our neighbor is a noisy oaf who painted his house electric blue and who throws his empty beer cans in our yard.



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