preponderate

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /prɪˈpɑndəˌreɪt/ UK /prɪˈpɒndəˌreɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to be greater in number, weight, or influence; to predominate

Doubts began to preponderate over his early optimism.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to be greater in number,... predominate prevail dominate outweigh outnumber

Word family

Derived forms preponderation

Related forms preponderance preponderant ponderous

Etymology

From Latin praeponderatus, past participle of praeponderare ('to outweigh'), from prae- ('before') + ponderare ('to weigh'), from pondus ('weight').

praeponderare Latin ponderare Latin pondus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# preponderate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /prɪˈpɑndəˌreɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /prɪˈpɒndəˌreɪt/

## Meanings
1. to be greater in number, weight, or influence; to predominate

## Examples
- Doubts began to preponderate over his early optimism.

## Synonyms
- predominate
- prevail
- dominate
- outweigh
- outnumber

## Derived Forms
- preponderation

## Related Forms
- preponderance
- preponderant
- ponderous

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

## Etymology
From Latin praeponderatus, past participle of praeponderare ('to outweigh'), from prae- ('before') + ponderare ('to weigh'), from pondus ('weight').

## AI Etymology
Preponderate is from Latin praeponderatus, past participle of praeponderare ('to outweigh'), from prae- ('before') + 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 to be greater in number, weight, or influence; to predominate. The wider family includes derived forms such as preponderation and related words such as preponderance, preponderant, and ponderous.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown