preponderance
/pɹəˈpɑndəɹəns/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.70 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Superiority in amount or number; the bulk or majority; also, a large amount or number; an abundance, a profusion.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Superiority of influence, power, a quality, etc.; an outweighing, predominance, pre-eminence.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "[S]trong proofs are at hand to shew, that in the Irish people there is a large admixture, if not an overwhelming praeponderance, of Iberian elements."
- "Is there a preponderance of female protagonists in commercial fiction, and if so, what does it mean?"
- "Subtle, institutional discrimination was evident in the preponderance of blacks and underprivileged whites fighting the war."
- "In a few weeks he [William III of England] had changed the relative position of all the states in Europe, and had restored the equilibrium which the preponderance of one power had destroyed."
- "But even less disgruntled observers have insisted that pain and unpleasure are more common in dreams than pleasure: for instance, Scholz (1893, 57), Volkelt (1875, 80), and others. Indeed two ladies, Florence Hallam and Sarah Weed (1896, 499), have actually given statistical expression, based on a study of their own dreams, to the preponderance of unpleasure in dreaming."
Etymology
Etymology tree English preponderant Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin -āns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin -āntia Old French -ancebor. Middle English -aunce English -ance English preponderance From preponderant + -ance.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pɹəˈpɑndəɹəns/
- British English: /pɹɪˈpɒndəɹəns/