Other forms: predates; predated; predating
To predate is to happen or exist before something else. If you move into a house that already has a ghost, the ghost predates you. Boo!
If your interest in soul music predates your sister's, you loved it first. When you use predate this way, you can read it as a combination of pre-, "before," and date, "point in time." Another meaning of this verb is "to prey on for food," so you could say that your cat predates the mice that live in your kitchen. This definition stems from predator, from the Latin praedator, "plunderer."