Definition:Conditional/Antecedent

Definition
In a conditional $p \implies q$, the statement $p$ is the antecedent.

Also known as
The terms:
 * premise
 * assumption
 * hypothesis

can often be found in the literature as a word for this concept, but on we reserve the use of premise, assumption and hypothesis for elements of the structure of logical arguments.

The archaic terms implicans and protasis can sometimes be found.

Also defined as
Let $P = a \circ b$ be an expression.

The term $a$ is known as the antecedent of $P$.

Also see

 * Definition:Consequent


 * Definition:Leading Term
 * Definition:Following Term

Linguistic Note
The word antecedent is usually found in classical mathematical literature, notably Euclid's.

The word comes from the Greek, and literally means leading term.

It is pronounced an-tee-see-dent.