Standard Lemma guide

premeditate

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /priːˈmɛdɪteɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R IY0 M EH1 D AH0 T EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To meditate, consider, or plan beforehand; to think about and revolve in the mind beforehand.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: ambitransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

think or reflect beforehand or in advance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I rarely premeditate, which is a mistake

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, ruminate, speculate

3

verb

Meaning 3

consider, ponder, or plan (an action) beforehand

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • premeditated murder

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: consider, debate, moot, turn over, deliberate

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin praemeditātus, past participle of praemeditor (“to premeditate”). By surface analysis, pre- + meditate.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: обмислям предварително (obmisljam predvaritelno) — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • Dutch: van tevoren bedenken — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • German: vorsätzlich planen — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • German: vorher überlegen — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • German: im Vorhinein planen — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • German: im Vorhinein überlegen — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • German: vorher bedenken — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • Polish: obmyślać z góry — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • Polish: obmyślić z góry — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • Polish: planować naprzód — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand
  • Polish: zaplanować naprzód — to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand