preponder, v.1 Now rare.
(prɪˈpɒndə(r))
[a. OF. prépondér-er (16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), or L. præponderāre to outweigh, be of greater weight: see pre- A. 5 and ponder v.]
† 1. trans. To attribute greater weight or importance to. Obs. rare.
| 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. vii. 202 He..prepondereth the gyuer before all thynges gyuen. |
2. To outweigh in importance, to preponderate over.
| 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. (1651) 236 [Channelled pillars] ought..not to be the more slender, but the more corpulent, unlesse apparances preponder truths. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Surrey (1662) iii. 76 Though the transporting thereof be by Law forbidden, yet private profit so prepondereth the publick, that Ships ballasted therewith are sent over into Holland, where they have..Magazins of this Earth. |
3. intr. To exceed in weight, number, etc.; = preponderate v.1 1.
| 1676 Beal in Phil. Trans. XI. 601, I found not so much difference, as could clear me from suspecting a prepondering fancy. 1820 J. Cleland Glasgow 39 The Trades' Burgesses have prepondered. 1893 Scribner's Mag. June 749/1 As it is, the embellishments preponder over constructive ability. |