predecessoryoudaoicibaDictYouDict[predecessor 词源字典]
predecessor: [14] Etymologically, predecessor is first cousin to decease, but it has never taken on decease’s connotations of ‘dying’. Both go back to Latin dēcēdere ‘go away’ (a compound verb based on cēdere ‘go away’, source of English cede, concede, precede, etc), whose derived noun dēcessus ‘departure’ came to be used euphemistically for ‘death’ – whence English decease [14].

Combination with the prefix prae- ‘before’ with the derived dēcessor ‘leaver’ produced praedēcessor ‘one who leaves before’. Traces of this original meaning linger in English predecessor (acquired via Old French predecesseur) in the notion of ‘one who left office before the present incumbent took over’.
=> cede, concede, decease, precede, proceed, succeed[predecessor etymology, predecessor origin, 英语词源]
predecessor (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
late 14c., "one who has held an office or position before the present holder," from Old French predecesseor "forebear" and directly from Late Latin praedecessorem (nominative praedecessor), from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + decessor "retiring official," from decess-, past participle stem of decedere "go away," also "die" (see decease (n.)). Meaning "ancestor, forefather" is recorded from c. 1400.