Both Uses of
precedent
in
Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding
- And for this method we plead many precedents.†
Book 4 *
- Avarice presently treated this with ridicule, called it a distinction without a difference, and absolutely insisted that when once all pretensions of honour and virtue were given up in any one instance, that there was no precedent for resorting to them upon a second occasion.†
Book 6
Definition:
an example from a prior time -- typically used to justify similar occurrences at a later time (especially a judicial decision)