• procede(obsolete)

FromMiddle Englishproceden, fromOld Frenchproceder, fromLatinprōcēdō(“I go forth, go forward, advance”), fromprō(“forth”) +cēdō(“I go”); seecede.

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/pɹəˈsiːd/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/pɹəˈsid/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Homophone:precede
• Rhymes:-iːd

proceed (third-person singular simple presentproceeds,present participleproceeding,simple past and past participleproceeded)

1. (intransitive) To move, pass, or go forward or onward; toadvance; tocarry on

   toproceed on a journey

   • 1944 July and August, “Top Link Drivers: XXI—Driver H. Blunt, L.N.E.R.”, inRailway Magazine, page226:

     Having completed their task, Fireman Page telephoned from a lineside box to the next signal cabin, briefly reported the incident and said that, as no high explosive had dropped and the track was safe, they proposedproceeding "at caution".

   • 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The railways and the Devon floods”, inTrains Illustrated, page709:

     [...] and on the Saturday heavy seas pounded the W.R. on its exposed coastal stretch between Dawlish and Teignmouth, loosening the ballast and forcing trains toproceed with extreme caution.

2. (intransitive) To pass from one point, topic, or stage, to another.

   toproceed with a story or argument

   • 1948, Bernward H. Willeke,Imperial Government and Catholic Missions in China During the Years 1784-1785‎^[1],St. Bonaventure, New York: Franciscan Institute,→OCLC,→OL,page31:

     There the missionaries learned that they were to stay for a longer period, and they were lodged in a shed surrounded by rice fields. This was different from what they had expected, because they had been told in Canton that Father Ts’ai had arranged for a place in Hsiang-t’an. They therefore wished toproceed to Hsiang-t’an, but since that was impossible under the circumstances, they asked Liu Shêng-tuan to be their messenger to Father Liu asking him to come to them.

3. (intransitive) To come from; to have as its source or origin.

   Lightproceeds from the sun.

4. (intransitive) To go on in anorderly or regulated manner; to begin and carry on a series of acts or measures; to actmethodically
   • a.1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, inPosthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London:[…]A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published1706,→OCLC:

     He thatproceeds upon others’ principles in his enquiry

5. (intransitive) To be transacted; to take place; to occur.
   • 1599 (first performance),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene ii]:

     And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you
     What hathproceeded worthy note to-day

6. (intransitive, of a rule) To be applicable or effective; to bevalid.
   • 1726,John Ayliffe,Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London:[…] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […],→OCLC:

     [This rule] onlyproceeds and takes place, when a person cannot of common Right condemn or bind another by his Sentence.

7. (law,intransitive) To begin and carry on a legalprocess.
   • 2005, Rodney Stich,Disavow: Sage of Betrayal:

     “Gentlemen, shall weproceed?” the judge said.
     From the beginning, Judge Fong appeared bored at Levine's coaxing remarks.

8. (intransitive) To take anacademicdegree.

• When used as acatenative verb,proceed takes theto infinitive (i.e. one saysproceed to swing, notproceed swing). SeeAppendix:English catenative verbs.
• Not to be confused withprecede.
• Many of the other English verbs ultimately derived from Latincēdō are spelled ending in "cede", so the misspelling "procede" is common.

• progress,forthgo,Thesaurus:proceed

• regress
• recede

• procedure
• process
• procession

• proceeds(noun)

• William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “proceed”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
• “proceed”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.

• copered,pre-Code,precode