Etymologically
Log in

praepondero

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈpɔn.dɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈpɔn.de.ro][1]

Forms

praeponderō (present infinitive praeponderāre, perfect active praeponderāvī, supine praeponderātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

The OLD derives it from Latin prae- (“before”) + pondus (“weight”), with the verb ending ⟨-ō⟩.[2] The TLL also prefers this to a compound with ponderō (“to weigh”), since the senses are hard to explain from that verb, and wonders whether it grew out of a phrase meaning “to lean under the weight”;[3] Wiktionary takes it as that compound.[1] The noun is an o-grade formation from the root of pendō (“to hang, weigh”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Varro and Cicero on.[3] Varro uses it of something that inclines to neither side,[2][5] and Cicero writes of people who measure everything by profit and do not want it to be outweighed by honour (neque ea volunt praeponderārī honestāte).[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call the intransitive use post-Augustan.[5] Seneca uses it of the world tipping over if the balance of its parts were upset,[2][6] and of an injury that outweighs a benefit;[5] Quintilian of a case that inclines to neither side,[5] Gellius of honour that prevails,[5] and Apuleius of a load sliding to one side.[5][6] In the Ilias Latina Jupiter's scales sink with the disasters of the Greeks.[2] The TLL notes that it is mostly a prose word, frequent in Ambrose,[3] who writes that good deeds outweigh sins.[6] The present forms far outnumber the others.[3]

English took preponderate from its participle in the 1610s.[7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of inclining to one side.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the passive, of profit outweighed by honour.[2][8]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the world tipping and of injuries outweighing benefits.[2][5][8]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a case that inclines neither way.[5][8]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of good deeds outweighing sins.[6][8]
  • 1610s – English borrows preponderate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be heavier on one side, tip, incline.[2][5][6]
  2. (figurative) To incline (towards a decision), turn the scale.[2][5]
  3. To have greater weight or influence, prevail, preponderate.[2][5][6]
  4. (transitive) To outweigh.[2][5]
  5. (absolute) To show partiality.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de