Etymologically
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anticipation

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ænˌtɪs.ɪˈpeɪ.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ænˌtɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English anticipacioun,[2] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman anticipacion and anticipation, partly borrowed from Latin anticipātiō (“preconception”).[3][4] Etymonline, Barnhart, Klein and Merriam-Webster take it from Latin alone.[5][6][7][2] The Latin noun is formed from anticipātus, the past participle of anticipō (“to take care of ahead of time”),[5][6][7] which is made of ante (“before”) (in the old form anti) and capiō (“to take”),[5][6] so that the verb meant literally "to take into possession beforehand".[5] In Anglo-Norman the noun is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, at first for a symptom of disease that appears earlier than expected.[8][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Action taken beforehand against a possible event, and in medicine the appearance of a symptom earlier than usual: both are first quoted by the OED from a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, probably from before 1425.[3] Barnhart dates the word to before 1397, in a prologue to the Wycliffite Bible,[6] the text the OED quotes for the sense "mentioning beforehand something that happens later in a narrative".[3] Etymonline gives late 14th century and the sense "foreshadowing".[5]

Semantic evolution

The idea of doing or taking something before its time produced several technical senses: the using of money before it is due (1548),[3][9] the occurrence of something before its date (1556–1907),[3] and in music the sounding of part of a chord before the chord itself (1730).[3][9] The mental senses came later. "Intuition, presentiment" is recorded from 1549 to 1860,[3] and both "prejudice" and "expectation" from about 1608, in Samson Lennard's translation of Charron.[3] Johnson (1755) defined the word as taking something up before its time and as a foretaste.[10] The now usual sense, looking forward to something with pleasure or eagerness, is first quoted from Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759);[3][9] Etymonline dates it to 1809.[5] The phrase in anticipation (of) dates from 1656.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1397 – in the prologue to the Wycliffite Bible.[6]
  • ?a1425 – action taken beforehand; early onset of a symptom.[3]
  • 1548 – using money before it is due.[3]
  • 1549 – intuition, presentiment (obsolete by 1860).[3]
  • ?1608 – prejudice; expectation of an outcome.[3]
  • 1656 – in anticipation (of).[3]
  • 1730 – (music) part of a chord sounded in advance.[3]
  • 1759 – eager or pleasurable expectation.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of expecting or foreseeing something, and of preparing for it: They stocked up on candles in anticipation of a power cut.
  2. Excitement or pleasure felt while looking forward to something: The children waited for the parade in breathless anticipation.
  3. The act of dealing with or using something, especially funds or income, before it is due or available.
  4. (music) A short, unstressed note that sounds part of a chord before the chord itself.

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.