prepossession

English

Etymology

From pre- +‎ possession.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹiːpəˈzɛʃn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹipəˈzɛʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɛʃən
• Hyphenation: pre‧pos‧sess‧ion

Noun

prepossession (countable and uncountable, plural prepossessions)

1. (uncountable) Preoccupation; having possession beforehand.
   • 1791 August 19, letter from Benjamin Banneker to Thomas Jefferson:

     I am fully sensible to the greatness of that freedom, which I take with you on the present occasion; a liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand, and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion.

   • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:

     It opens his designs to his family, it introduces you among them, it diffuses through the party those pleasantest feelings of our nature, eager curiosity and warm prepossession.

2. (countable) A preconceived opinion, or previous impression; bias, prejudice.
   • 1902, William James, “Lecture XVIII: Philosophy”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 455:

     The spontaneous intellect of man always defines the divine which it feels in ways that harmonise with its temporary intellectual prepossessions.

Further reading

• “prepossession”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.