Both Uses of
precedent
in
War and Peace
- There are precedents, I may mention Schwarzenberg.†
Chpt 5 *
- The prince tried to comfort her, but Helene, as if quite distraught, said through her tears that there was nothing to prevent her marrying, that there were precedents (there were up to that time very few, but she mentioned Napoleon and some other exalted personages), that she had never been her husband's wife, and that she had been sacrificed.†
Chpt 11
Definition:
an example from a prior time -- typically used to justify similar occurrences at a later time (especially a judicial decision)