【Preceding】 , 【antecedent】 ,  【precedent】 ,  【foregoing】 ,  【previous】 ,  【prior】 ,  【former】 ,  【anterior】  are comparable when they mean being before, especially in time or in order of arrangement.

【Preceding】 , opposed to succeeding and following, is restricted to time and place; it usually means immediately before.

【Antecedent】 , opposed to subsequent and consequent, usually implies order in time, but unlike  【preceding】 , it often suggests an indefinite intervening interval.

Very often, also, the word implies a causal or a logical, as well as a temporal, relation.

【Precedent】  often applies to one thing which must precede another thing if the latter is to be valid or become effective; thus, a condition  【precedent】  in law is a condition that must be fulfilled before an estate can be vested in one or before a right accrues to one.

【Foregoing】 , opposed to following, applies almost exclusively to statements.

【Previous】  and  【prior】  , opposed to subsequent, are often used almost interchangeably.

But  【prior】  sometimes implies greater importance than  【previous】 ; thus, a  【previous】  obligation suggests merely an obligation entered into earlier in point of time, whereas a  【prior】  obligation is one which surpasses the other in importance and must be fulfilled in advance of any other; a  【prior】  preferred stock is one whose claim to dividends or to a specified sum in liquidation comes before other preferred stocks of a company.

【Former】 , opposed to latter, even more definitely than  【prior】 , implies comparison; thus, there can be a  【former】  engagement only when there is also a later one; a  【previous】  or  【prior】  engagement may prevent one's making a second.

【Anterior】 , opposed to posterior, also comparative in force, applies to position, usually in space, sometimes in order or time.