The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Precede \Pre*cede"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preceded; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Preceding.] [L. praecedere, praecessum; prae before
   + cedere to go, to be in motion: cf. F. pr['e]ceder. See
   Pre-, and Cede.]
   1. To go before in order of time; to occur first with
      relation to anything. "Harm precedes not sin." --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To go before in place, rank, or importance.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; -- used
      with by or with before the instrumental object. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            It is usual to precede hostilities by a public
            declaration.                          --Kent.
      [1913 Webster] Precedence

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

precede
    v 1: be earlier in time; go back further; "Stone tools precede
         bronze tools" [syn: predate, precede, forego,
         forgo, antecede, antedate] [ant: follow,
         postdate]
    2: come before; "Most English adjectives precede the noun they
       modify" [syn: precede, predate]
    3: be the predecessor of; "Bill preceded John in the long line
       of Susan's husbands" [syn: precede, come before] [ant:
       come after, follow, succeed]
    4: move ahead (of others) in time or space [syn: precede,
       lead] [ant: follow]
    5: furnish with a preface or introduction; "She always precedes
       her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a
       critical remark about the institution" [syn: precede,
       preface, premise, introduce]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

67 Moby Thesaurus words for "precede":
   announce, antecede, antedate, anticipate, be before, be early,
   be the bellwether, beacon, blaze the trail, break ground,
   break the ice, break the trail, come before, come first, create,
   forerun, foreshadow, front, get ahead of, get before, go ahead of,
   go before, go in advance, guide, harbinger, have priority,
   have the start, head, head the line, head the table, head up,
   herald, initiate, introduce, invent, kick off, lap, lead, lead off,
   lead the dance, lead the way, light the way, originate, outrank,
   outstrip, pace, pioneer, play first fiddle, precurse, predate,
   preexist, presage, proclaim, rank, rank first, rank out, rate,
   set the pace, spearhead, stand first, star, take precedence,
   take the initiative, take the lead, take the plunge, usher,
   usher in