anticipate

English

Alternative forms

• antecipate

Etymology

Latin anticipatus, perfect passive participle of anticipare (“anticipate”); from ante (“before”), + capere (“take”). See Capable.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, SAMPA: /{n"tIs.I.peIT/
• (US) IPA: /ænˈtɪs.ə.peɪt/, SAMPA: /{n"tIs.@.peIt/

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Verb

anticipate (third-person singular simple present anticipates, present participle anticipating, simple past and past participle anticipated)

1. (transitive) To act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.

   To anticipate and prevent the duke's purpose. --R. Hall.

   He would probably have died by the hand of the executioner, if indeed the executioner had not been anticipated by the populace. -- Thomas Babington Macaulay.

2. to take up or introduce (something) prematurely.

   The advocate plans to anticipate a part of her argument.

3. to know of (something) before it happens; to expect.

   to anticipate the pleasures of a visit

   to anticipate the evils of life

   Please anticipate a journey of an hour from your house to the airport

   • 2011 October 2, Jonathan Jurejko, “Bolton 1 - 5 Chelsea”, BBC Sport:

     And with Bolton suffering a wretched run of five straight home defeats - their worst run in 109 years - Chelsea fans would have been forgiven for expecting a comfortable win.
     But surely they did not anticipate the ease with which their team raced into an almost impregnable half-time lead.

4. to eagerly wait for (something)

   Little Johnny started to anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus a week before Christmas.

Usage notes

The words anticipate and expect both regard some future event as likely to take place. Nowadays they are often used interchangeably although anticipate is associated with acting because of an expectation. (E.g. skilled sportsmen anticipate the action and position themselves accordingly.)

Synonyms

• (to act before someone): preclude
• (to take up or introduce something prematurely):
• (to know of something before it manifests): expect, foretaste, foresee
• (to eagerly await something): look forward to

Related terms

• anticipation

Translations

to act before someone

Bulgarian: изпреварвам (bg) Finnish: ennakoida (fi), varautua (fi)

Italian: anticipare (it) Russian: опережать (ru) (operežát’) impf., опередить (ru) (operedít’) pf.

to take up or introduce something prematurely

Bulgarian: прибързвам (bg) Finnish: ennakoida (fi)

Russian: предвосхищать (ru) (predvosxiščát’) impf., предвосхитить (ru) (predvosxítit’) pf.

to know of something before it manifests

Bulgarian: предвиждам (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: 預料 (zh), 预料 (zh) (yùliào) Danish: forudse (da) Finnish: odottaa (fi), varautua (fi) French: anticiper (fr), prévoir (fr)

German: voraussehen (de), vorausahnen (de) Italian: prevedere (it) Japanese: 予想する (ja) (よそうする, yosō-suru) Polish: przewidzieć (pl) Russian: предвидеть (ru) (predvídet’) impf. Spanish: anticipar (es), prever (es)

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Italian

Verb

anticipate

1. second-person plural present indicative of anticipare
2. second-person plural imperative of anticipare
3. Feminine plural of anticipato

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Latin

Verb

anticipāte

1. first-person plural present active imperative of anticipō