What does predecease mean?
“Predecease” is a formal verb meaning to die before someone else, or to die before a particular time. It is used when a writer needs to establish the order of deaths, often in a family history, biography, will, insurance policy, or obituary. For example, “She predeceased her brother by five years” means that she died first and her brother was still alive at the time of her death. The word is more precise and more impersonal than saying simply that one person “died before” another, and it is less common in everyday conversation. Its prefix, “pre-,” indicates being earlier than something, while its main element, “decease,” is a formal word for death. Although it can describe dying before a specified time, its clearest and most typical use involves one person dying before another.
verbTo die before another person, especially a person whose death is being referred to or compared with the speaker's or writer's.
- To die before another person or a specified person or time.
"She predeceased her husband by nearly a decade."
"The poet predeceased many of the friends and contemporaries he wrote about."
"If the beneficiary predeceases the insured, the policy may pass to another beneficiary."
“Predecease” is the formal way to say that someone died first—without using the word “die” at all.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does predecease come from?
The word combines the prefix “pre-,” meaning “before,” with “decease,” a formal English word for death. “Decease” comes through Old French from Latin decedere, a verb meaning “to go away” or “to die.” The resulting verb “predecease” literally expresses being earlier in death than someone else and is closely related to forms such as “deceased” and “decedent.”
Related word forms
How predecease is actually used
Formal and especially common in legal, biographical, and obituary contexts. It is usually transitive and takes a person as its object.
Easily confused with predecease
“Predecease” means to die before someone, while “decease” means to die and does not imply that another person survived.