Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRE-POND'ER-A-TING, ppr.

Outweighing; inclining to one side.

PRE-POND-ER-A'TION, n.

The act or state of outweighing any thing, or of inclining to one side. – Watts.

PRE-POSE, v.t. [s as z. Fr. preposer; pre and poser, to put.]

To put before. [Not much used.] – Focaloir.

PREP-O-SI'TION, n. [s as z. Fr. from L. præpositio; præpono, præpositus; præ and pono, to put.]

In grammar, a word usually put before another to express some relation or quality, action or motion to or from the thing specified; as, medicines salutary to health; music agreeable to the ear; virtue is valued for its excellence; a man is riding to Oxford from London. Prepositions govern cases of nouns, and in English are sometimes placed after the word governed; as, which person do you speak to? for, to which person do you speak? This separation of the preposition from the governed word is sometimes allowable in colloquial use, but is generally inelegant.

PREP-O-SI'TION-AL, a.

Pertaining to a preposition; or to preceding position. – Encyc.

PRE-POS'I-TIVE, a.

Put before; as, a prepositive particle. – Jones.

PRE-POS'I-TIVE, n. [supra.]

A word or particle put before another word. – Jones.

PRE-POS'I-TOR, n. [L. præpositor.]

A scholar appointed by the instructor to inspect other scholars. – Todd.

PRE-POS'I-TURE, n.

The office or place of a provost; a provostship.

PRE-POS-SESS', v.t. [pre and possess.]

1. To preoccupy, as ground or land; to take previous possession of. – Dryden.
2. To preoccupy the mind or heart so as to preclude other things; hence, to bias or prejudice. A mind prepossessed with opinions favorable to a person or cause, will not readily admit unfavorable opinions to take possession, nor yield to reasons that disturb the possessors. When a lady has prepossessed the heart or affections of a man, he does not readily listen to suggestions that tend to remove the prepossession. Prepossess is more frequently used in a good sense than prejudice.

PRE-POS-SESS'ED, pp.

Preoccupied; inclined previously to favor or disfavor.

PRE-POS-SESS'ING, ppr.

1. Taking previous possession.
2. adj. Tending to invite favor; having power to secure the possession of favor, esteem or love. The countenance, address and manners of a person are sometimes prepossessing on a first acquaintance.

PRE-POS-SESS'ING-LY, adv.

In a prepossessing manner.

PRE-POS-SES'SION, n.

1. Preoccupation; prior possession. – Hammond.
2. Preconceived opinion on the intellect of previous impressions on the mind or heart, in favor or against any person or thing. It is often used in a good sense; sometimes it is equivalent to prejudice, and sometimes a softer name for it. In general, it conveys an idea less odious than prejudice; as, the prepossessions of education. – South.

PRE-POS'TER-OUS, a. [L. præposterus; præ, before, and posterus, latter.]

1. Literally, having that first which ought to be last; inverted in order. The method take maybe censured as preposterous, because I treat last of the antediluvian earth, which was first in the order of nature. – Woodward.
2. Perverted; wrong; absurd; contrary to nature or reason; not adapted to the end; as, a republican government in the hands of females, is preposterous. To draw general conclusions from particular facts, is preposterous reasoning. – Bacon. Woodward.
3. Foolish; absurd; applied to persons. – Shak.

PRE-POS'TER-OUS-LY, adv.

In a wrong or inverted order; absurdly; foolishly. – Shak. Bentley.

PRE-POS'TER-OUS-NESS, n.

Wrong order or method; absurdity; inconsistency with nature or reason. – Feltham.

PRE-PO'TEN-CY, n. [L. præpotentia; præ and potentia, power.]

Superior power; predominance. [Little used.] – Brown.

PRE-PO'TENT, a. [L. præpotens.]

Very powerful. [Little used.] – Plaifere.

PRE'PUCE, n. [Fr. from L. præputium.]

The foreskin; a prolongation of the cutis of the penis, covering the glans. – Encyc.

PRE-RE-MOTE', a. [pre and remote.]

More remote in previous time or prior order. In some cases two more links of causation may be introduced; one of them may be termed the preremote cause, the other the postremote effect. – Darwin.

PRE-RE-QUIRE, v.t. [pre and require.]

To require previously. – Hammond.

PRE-REQ'UI-SITE, a. [s as z. pre and requisite.]

Previously required or necessary to something subsequent; as, certain attainments are prerequisite to an admission to orders.

PRE-REQ'UI-SITE, n.

Something that is previously required or necessary to the end proposed. An acquaintance with Latin and Greek is a prerequisite to the admission of a young man into a college.

PRE-RE-SOLVE, v.t. [s as z. pre and resolve.]

To resolve previously. – Dering.