1) Came before 2) Legal terminology 3) Preceded 4) Went back further 1) Preceded 
An antedated contract is a contract whose date is in the past; formally, a contract where the (effective) date on the contract is prior to the date on which the contract is executed (written, signed, made effective). The term is from Latin ante meaning `before`, and its antonym is postdate. Another example, in simpler terms, might be that if som.....
• (imp. & p. p.) of Antedate