anticipation definition

English anticipation definition

Etymology

From Middle English anticipacioun, from Latin anticipātiō, anticipātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /æn.tɪs.ɪˈpeɪ.ʃən/, /æn.tɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

anticipation (countable and uncountable, plural anticipations)

1. The act of anticipating, taking up, placing, or considering something beforehand, or before the proper time in natural order.

   Often the anticipation of a shot is worse than the pain of the stick.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii]:

     So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king and queen moult no feather.

2. The eagerness associated with waiting for something to occur.

   He waited with great anticipation for Christmas to arrive.

   He waited in anticipation of the arrival of Christmas.

   • November 20, 1836, Samuel Thodey, The Honour Attached to Eminent Piety and Usefulness

     anticipation of that final hour which he had long contemplated as near at hand

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.

3. (finance) Prepayment of a debt, generally in order to pay less interest.
4. (rhetoric) Prolepsis.
5. (music) A non-harmonic tone that is lower or higher than a note in the previous chord and a unison to a note in the next chord.
6. (obsolete) Hasty notion; intuitive preconception.
   • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, OCLC 6963663, § 25, page 81:

     [M]any Men give themſelves up to the firſt anticipations of their minds, and are very tenacious of the Opinions that firſt poſſeſs them; [...]

Synonyms

• expectingness

Hyponyms

• (anticipating, expectation): apprehension, dread; see also anxiety#Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• anticipation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• anticipation in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

French anticipation definition

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin anticipātiō, anticipātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.ti.si.pa.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

anticipation f (plural anticipations)

1. anticipation

Further reading

• “anticipation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.