Word of the Day

Sunday, March 16, 2003

preponderate

\prih-PON-duh-rayt\ , intransitive verb;

To exceed in weight.

To incline or descend, as the scale of a balance; to be weighed down.

To exceed in influence, power, importance, number, amount, etc.

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Quotes:

It's about the random acts of kindness which still, magically, preponderate over acts of incivility or nastiness.

-- John Diamond, "Reasons to be cheerful", The Observer, December 31, 2000

And this is not, of course, to speak of the drunks, neurotics, and pure creeps who sometimes appear to preponderate among contemporary authors.

-- Joseph Epstein, "Poison-Pen Pals", Commentary, March 1999

A rational person, of course, will weigh these benefits against the costs; and when baring all involves admitting having committed a crime, the costs will ordinarily preponderate.

-- Richard A. Posner, "Let Them Talk", New Republic, August 21, 2000

Origin:

Preponderate comes from the past participle of Latin praeponderare, "to weigh more, to exceed in weight," from prae, "before" + ponderare, "to weigh," from pondus, ponderis, "a weight."