Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Superiority in weight, force, importance, or influence.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The state or quality of preponderating or outweighing; superiority in weight: as, preponderance of metal.
- n. Superiority in force, influence, quantity, or number; predominance.
- n. In gunnery, the excess of weight of that part of a gun which is to the rear of the trunnions over that in front of them. It is measured by the force, expressed in pounds, which must be applied under the rear end of the base-ring or neck of the cascabel in order to balance the gun exactly with the axis of the bore horizontal, when supported freely on knife-edges placed under the trunnions.
Wiktionary
- n. Excess or superiority of weight, influence, or power, etc.; an outweighing.
- n. obsolete The excess of weight of that part of a cannon behind the trunnions over that in front of them.
- n. The greater portion of the weight.
- n. The majority.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The quality or state of being preponderant; superiority or excess of weight, influence, or power, etc.; an outweighing.
- n. (Gun.) The excess of weight of that part of a canon behind the trunnions over that in front of them.
WordNet 3.0
- n. exceeding in heaviness; having greater weight
- n. a superiority in numbers or amount
- n. superiority in power or influence
Etymologies
- From Latin praeponderare ("outweigh"), from prae- ("before") + ponderare ("to weigh") (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Were the thirst of riches to take absolute possession of every class of society, it would infallibly produce the evil complained of by those who see with regret what they call the preponderance of the industrious system; but the increase of commerce, by multiplying the connections between nations, by opening an immense sphere to the activity of the mind, by pouring capital into agriculture, and creating new wants by the refinement of luxury, furnishes a remedy against the supposed dangers.”
“But if that preponderance is leading to a world in which Russian and Chinese launch commanders are fingering nuclear hair triggers, the game may not be worth the candle.”
“We think it would be found that among women conversions from Protestantism to Catholicism preponderate, and that among men the preponderance is the other way about.”
“That so-called preponderance standard is typically used in civil cases.”
“Without denying that they have weight, I think it may be made to appear that they have not the unquestionable preponderance, which is assumed for them.”
“In point of fact, the Soviet Union did develop what might best be called a preponderance of familiar weapons.”
“He began with what may be described as a preponderance of the poetic element over the dramatic.”
“This is what modern lawyers call a preponderance of evidence of the deep-reaching love of Jesus and those who truly followed Him.”
“Consider a defense team able to create reasonable doubt, but a much better funded prosecution team able to generate mountains of testimony and evidence -- much of it tangential or circumstantial, perhaps, but any given jury of 12 random people may well interpret "preponderance" to be related to quantity and simultaneously fail to discount for quality or investment.”
The Preponderance of the Evidence, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“First fred, let me respond that I agree with the "preponderance" standard; it's the best we can do.”
Texas Faith: How did our civil debate become so uncivil? | RELIGION Blog | dallasnews.com
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘preponderance’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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important
shamanism, consol, sanguine, iffy, affinity, concatenation, honed, innumberable, aiden, inexorable, vet, suss and 176 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 567 more...
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Agatha Christie
Charming and intriguing words one finds in AG's murder mysteries. Also see Murdered, you say?
ambassadress, aperitif, baluster, cause célèbre, crime passionnel, embankment, embonpoint, galantine, mauvais sujet, mephistophelean, mountebank, purloin and 67 more...
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October Words-10033
During the month of October, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has a...
bedel, nirvana, colloquialisms, Porcine, proletariat, Xanadu, decorous, bourgeois, unencumbered, gratis, cosseted, Brank and 30 more...
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scholarly writing words
decrement, replete, impel, iterative, subsume, tacit, vex, denote, impart, ascertain, coalesce, extant and 49 more...
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ash vocab
flippant, fillip, expiate, explicate, extirpate, facile, florid, fealty, allegiance, fetid, febrile, pert and 134 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 475 more...
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GRE Words
orotund, mendacious, inimical, foment, contumacious, abrogate, arrogate, syncretism, abate, abdication, aberration, abeyance and 123 more...
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Good for Academics
Gahh!! Study!
supplant, usurp, finagle, winnow, draconian, abut, collude, swindle, objectify, incite, decadent, obstinate and 327 more...
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Vocabulary
Words I come across while reading.
talus, echelon, onanistic, cabochon, avocation, charnel, moue, portentous, prolixity, astringent, hoary, patina and 165 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for preponderance.
onursaka the preponderance of black population has immigrated from south to north. Feb 18, 2012