proceed
Formsproceeds, proceeding, proceeded
Often confused with precede
- 1To move or go forward and onward; to advance and carry on.
Drivers may proceed through the intersection when the signal turns green.
The procession proceeded slowly along the avenue.
Similaradvance, continue, go (entry), move, progress
Note
The core motion behind every other sense comes from Latin prōcēdō, "I go forth," built from prō "forth" and cēdō "I go." That Latin verb is the same one behind cede, and it reached English through Old French proceder and Middle English proceden. On the railways the word has fixed partners: trains proceed "at caution" or "with extreme caution." Both phrases are the official way of saying a train may keep moving, but carefully.
- 2To continue by moving to a different point or stage or taking up a different subject.
Let us proceed to the next item on the agenda.
The lecture proceeded from basic concepts to advanced theory.
Similarmove, pass, go (entry), progress, advance
- 3To go on in an orderly, regulated way; to begin and carry on a planned series of actions methodically.
Engineers must proceed methodically through each safety check.
The investigation proceeded in careful, documented stages.
Similarprogress, continue, advance, move, work
Note
Method is the point of this sense, and it often takes upon. John Locke, in Of the Conduct of the Understanding, writes of one who "proceeds upon others' Principles" in his enquiry into the sciences, meaning someone who reasons from premises he has accepted from others. To proceed upon a principle names the ground an inquiry builds from. In the "come from a source" meaning, by contrast, something simply originates.
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- 5To come from something; to have it as a source or origin.
Many legal rights proceed from constitutional principles.
Her confidence proceeded from years of practice.
Similarstem, arise, derive, originate, spring
Note
Here the Latin is closest to the surface: prōcēdō, "I go forth," from prō "forth" and cēdō "I go." What proceeds from something has gone out of it, as light proceeds from the sun. The verb is nearly always followed by from, and it suits abstract origins such as rights, confidence or an error. Unlike the forward-moving sense, it looks back toward where a thing began.
- 6To be applicable or effective; to hold as valid.
The objection cannot proceed without supporting evidence.
His claim proceeds only under the older statute.
Similarstand, hold, apply, succeed
Oppositefail
Note
Rules are the usual subject here. John Ayliffe's Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani (1726) says a rule "only proceeds and takes place" when certain conditions hold, and the pairing explains itself: a rule that proceeds is one that applies. In legal and logical argument the idea is often put in the negative. An objection or claim that fails the test is said not to proceed.
- 7To begin and carry on a legal process or action.
The state will proceed against the defendant on three counts.
The firm proceeded with the patent claim in federal court.
Note
In court the word covers both starting a case and keeping it moving. In Rodney Stich's Disavow (2005), a judge asks, "Gentlemen, shall we proceed?" That question is the routine signal to get on with the hearing. The working patterns are proceed against a party and proceed with a claim. The verb stays intransitive in both, so the preposition carries the target or the matter in hand.
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Practice
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Origin
From Middle English proceden, from Old French proceder, from Latin prōcēdō ("to go forth, advance"), formed from prō ("forth") plus cēdō ("I go").