precede

Precede means to come before something else in time or order.

When we talk about events or steps happening in sequence, we often use "precede" to show that one thing happens first. For example, a new employee usually gets a tour of the office to get familiar with things before their first meeting with colleagues – so they precede the meeting in terms of schedule. This word is also used to describe a cause-and-effect situation where something leads to another event or result – for instance, a severe storm can precede a power outage because it caused damage to the electrical grid.