preponderance

C2+ Topic:Numbers & Quantity

Also spelled preponderancy

US /prɪˈpɑndərəns/ UK /prɪˈpɒndərəns/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being greater in number, importance, or strength

The preponderance of evidence pointed to his guilt.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being... predominance prevalence majority dominance superiority prevalency ascendancy

Opposites

minority inferiority

Word family

Related forms preponderant preponderate ponderous

Etymology

From Late Latin praeponderare ('to outweigh'), from Latin prae- ('before, beyond') + ponderare ('to weigh'), from pondus ('weight').

praeponderare Latin ponderare Latin pondus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Numbers & Quantity

# preponderance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** prɪˈpɑndərəns
**IPA (UK):** prɪˈpɒndərəns

## Meanings
1. the quality of being greater in number, importance, or strength

## Examples
- The preponderance of evidence pointed to his guilt.

## Synonyms
- predominance
- prevalence
- majority
- dominance
- superiority
- prevalency
- ascendancy

## Antonyms
- minority
- inferiority

## Related Forms
- preponderant
- preponderate
- ponderous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: praeponderare
- Root: ponderare
- Root: pondus

## Etymology
From Late Latin praeponderare ('to outweigh'), from Latin prae- ('before, beyond') + ponderare ('to weigh'), from pondus ('weight').

## AI Etymology
Preponderance is from Late Latin praeponderare ('to outweigh'), from Latin prae- ('before, beyond') + ponderare ('to weigh'), from pondus ('weight'). Important recorded forms include praeponderare (Latin), ponderare (Latin), and pondus (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers the quality of being greater in number, importance, or strength. The wider family includes related words such as preponderant, preponderate, and ponderous.

## Topics
- Numbers & Quantity

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preponderance

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