Antecedence

Noun

1. The relationship of preceding something in time or order.
2. That which precedes something or someone (e.g. prior events, origin, ancestry).
3. The length of time by which one event or time period precedes another.
4. The relationship between a pronoun and its antecedent.
5. A geologic process that explains how and why antecedent rivers can cut through mountain systems instead of going around them.