Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Contemplated or arranged in advance; premeditated.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Considered and planned beforehand; premeditated; purposed; intentional: generally in the phrase malice prepense (formerly also prepensed malice).
  • To consider beforehand; think upon in advance.
  • To plan or devise beforehand; contrive previously.
  • To reflect or meditate beforehand.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To deliberate beforehand.
  • transitive verb obsolete To weigh or consider beforehand; to premeditate.
  • adjective Devised, contrived, or planned beforehand; preconceived; premeditated; aforethought; -- usually placed after the word it qualifies.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Devised, contrived, or planned beforehand; preconceived, premeditated.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To weigh or consider beforehand; to consider.
  • verb intransitive To deliberate beforehand.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English, past participle of purpensen, to premeditate, from Anglo-Norman purpenser : pur-, before (from Latin pro-; see pro–) + penser, to think (from Latin pēnsāre; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from prepensed, probably from Anglo-Norman prepenser.

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Examples

  • “My charity I own cannot invent an excuse for the prepense malice with which the character and service of this gentleman are murdered,” Madison wrote of Morris in June.

    Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

  • “My charity I own cannot invent an excuse for the prepense malice with which the character and service of this gentleman are murdered,” Madison wrote of Morris in June.

    Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

  • For you will remember that it is only four or five days since his advocates of malice prepense attacked me with slanderous accusations, and began to charge me with practice of the black art and with the murder of my step-son Pontianus.

    The Defense Apuleius 2008

  • For you will remember that it is only four or five days since his advocates of malice prepense attacked me with slanderous accusations, and began to charge me with practice of the black art and with the murder of my step-son Pontianus.

    The Defense Apuleius 2008

  • I did by accident not of malice prepense; and quoth he,

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • He would show, as Ibsen shows, and with an equal lack of malice prepense, various detestable features which the mask of good manners had concealed.

    Henrik Ibsen 2008

  • He would show, as Ibsen shows, and with an equal lack of malice prepense, various detestable features which the mask of good manners had concealed.

    Henrik Ibsen 2008

  • The Princess became somewhat alarmed; she was besides extremely good-natured, nor had her intentions of leading the old man into what would render him ridiculous, been so accurately planned with malice prepense, as they were the effect of accident and chance.

    Count Robert of Paris 2008

  • THAT the author of the said work applied himself to his task in malice prepense and with wickedness aforethought; a fact which, your Dedicator contends, is sufficiently demonstrated, by his assuming the name of Quiz, which, your Dedicator submits, denotes a foregone conclusion, and implies an intention of quizzing.

    Sketches by Boz 2007

  • This same looping up was not without good reason and purpose prepense; thereby all the world had full view of a beautiful little ear, which looked as if it had been cut of cameo, and made, as my Lady Rich once told him,

    Westward Ho! 2007

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