anticipation

[an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of anticipating or the state of being anticipated.

2. realization in advance; foretaste.

3. expectation or hope.

4. previous notion; slight previous impression.

5. intuition, foreknowledge, or prescience.

6. Law.,  a premature withdrawal or assignment of money from a trust estate.

7. Music.,  a tone introduced in advance of its harmony so that it sounds against the preceding chord.

anticipation

/ ænˌtɪsɪˈpeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of anticipating; expectation, premonition, or foresight

2. the act of taking or dealing with funds before they are legally available or due

3. music an unstressed, usually short note introduced before a downbeat and harmonically related to the chord immediately following it Compare suspension

Other Word Forms

• nonanticipation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of anticipation¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French, from Latin anticipātiōn-, stem of anticipātiō “innate notion, preconception,” from anticipāt(us) “taken before, anticipated” (past participle of anticipāre “to take before”; anticipate ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

In voicenotes sent over the course of the day, he described feeling "tremendous anticipation" and a "big relief" as he saw them return.

Read more on BBC

Shipping containers were being placed as barriers across major roads in the capital in anticipation of the protesters' arrival.

Read more on Barron's

For now, the nervous anticipation among the staff is palpable.

Read more on BBC

Longer-term Treasury yields and mortgage rates had been falling in anticipation of the Fed’s move Wednesday to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The anticipation for the new version of the shooting game has given EA’s stock a nice lift over the past few months, though recent versions have been disappointing.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• apprehension 
• hope 
• joy 
• prospect