Preponderate

Origin

From Latin praeponderatus, past participle of praeponderāre ("to outweigh")

Full definition of preponderate

Verb

1. (transitive) To outweigh; to overpower by weight; to exceed in weight; to overbalance.
• GlanvillAn inconsiderable weight, by distance from the centre of the balance, will preponderate greater magnitudes.
2. (transitive) To overpower by stronger or moral power.
• 1898, s:Author:William Graham Sumner, s:War and Other Essays Chapter s:The Conquest of the United States by Spain, That is the preponderating consideration to which everything else has to yield.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to prefer; to incline; to decide.
• FullerThe desire to spare Christian blood preponderates him for peace.
4. (intransitive) To exceed in weight; hence, to predominate
• 1861, w, Utilitarianism Chapter , But in order that the exception may not extend itself beyond the need, and may have the least possible effect in weakening reliance on veracity, it ought to be recognized, and, if possible, its limits defined; and ...
  if the principle of utility is good for anything, it must be good for weighing these conflicting utilities against one another, and marking out the region within which one or the other preponderates.

Related terms

• preponder
• preponderance
• preponderant