Proceed Meaning
/pɹəˈsiːd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo move, pass, or go forward or onward; to advance; to carry on.
verbTo pass from one point, topic, or stage, to another.
Sentence Examples
Let's proceed with the items on the agenda.
I would like to know how you will proceed in this matter.
We're not sure whether we still want to proceed with the sale.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the light turned green, the driver decided to ____ through the intersection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The judge instructed the prosecution to ____ with presenting its opening argument to the jury.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English proceden, from Old French proceder, from Latin prōcēdō (“to go forth, go forward, advance”), from prō (“forth”) + cēdō (“to go”); see cede.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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 proposed proceeding "at caution"."
— 1944 July and August, “Top Link Drivers: XXI—Driver H. Blunt, L.N.E.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 226:
"[...] 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 to proceed with extreme caution."
— 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The railways and the Devon floods”, in Trains Illustrated, page 709:
"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 to proceed 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."
— 1948, Bernward H. Willeke, Imperial Government and Catholic Missions in China During the Years 1784-1785, St. Bonaventure, New York: Franciscan Institute, →OCLC, →OL, page 31:
"He that proceeds upon others Principles in his Enquiry into any Sciences, though he be reſolv’d to examine them and judge of them freely, does yet at leaſt put himſelf on that ſide, and poſt himſelf in a Party which he will not quit ’till he be beaten out; […]"
— a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC, § 34, pages 105–106:
"And he will (after his ſowre faſhion) tell you
What hath proceeded worthy note to day."
— 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 111, column 1:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After the light turned green, the driver decided to ____ through the intersection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The judge instructed the prosecution to ____ with presenting its opening argument to the jury.