anticipation

American  

[an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn] / ænˌtɪs əˈpeɪ ʃən /

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.

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anticipation British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• nonanticipation noun

Etymology

Origin of anticipation

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

Patrick Wilson plays one of the nervous teachers who have been issued pellet guns in anticipation of another attack.

From The Wall Street Journal

During the dot-com bubble, companies laid a lot of unused fiberoptic cables, or dark fiber, in anticipation of demand, and 95% of those stayed dark when the bubble burst.

From Barron's

Global markets were mixed as U.S. futures largely gained, with anticipation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments overshadowed by the dollar’s continued selloff.

From The Wall Street Journal

Maros Sefcovic, the EU's trade chief, told AFP he scours through newspaper headlines each morning in anticipation of "what else might happen".

From Barron's

“Not a fan of shots? Don’t worry. The anticipation is the worst part.”

From Literature

Related Words

• apprehension
• hope
• joy
• prospect