Preceding, a.
1. Going before; -- opposed to following.
2. (Astron.)
In the direction toward which stars appear to move. See Following, 2.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for preceding; he lists it under previous.
Where he writes about it:
Antecedent and previous may refer to that which goes or happens at any distance in advance, preceding is limited to that which is immediately or next before; an antecedent event may have happened at any time before; the preceding transaction is the one completed just before the one with which it is compared; a previous statement or chapter may be in any part of the book that has gone before; the preceding statement or chapter comes next before without an interval. — from previous