verb
- to exist before something else in time
Usage: intransitive
Examples
- Many scientists believe that matter must preexist before life can form.
- The ancient ruins preexist the modern city by thousands of years.
- These customs preexist written history in this region.
- The foundation must preexist the building construction.
- Certain conditions need to preexist for the experiment to work.
- The original treaty preexists the current agreement by fifty years.