Learn English – A word for a relationship in which one thing (or state) must exist in order for another thing (or state) to exist

single-word-requests

I can't think of the word to fill this blank:

More importantly, now we've got ourselves an "organic" roadmap—that is, one that follows the natural order of our concerns, rather than a logical order such as ____.

Though unrelated to my context, an example of such an ordering would be:

  1. a bride and groom
  2. a wedding
  3. a wedding cake

A wedding cake wouldn't exist without a wedding, which in turn wouldn't exist without its bride and groom. (I'm sorry, the real example is technical and complex, and I can't think of a better example at 3 in the morning.)

I want to say predecession but that's not a real word. Does anyone know the word I'm looking for?

Best Answer

A prerequisite is something that must exist for another to exist.