Antecedent (genealogy)
WordNet
adjective
(1) Preceding in time or order
noun
(2) The referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun
(3) A preceding occurrence or cause or event
(4) Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
(5) Anything that precedes something similar in time
"Phrenology was an antecedent of modern neuroscience"