premeditate

[pri-med-i-teyt]

verb (used with object)

premeditated, premeditating 

1. to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand.

   to premeditate a murder.

premeditate

/ prɪˈmɛdɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. to plan or consider (something, such as a violent crime) beforehand

Other Word Forms

• premeditative adjective
• premeditator noun
• premeditatedly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of premeditate¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin praemeditātus, past participle of praemeditārī “to contemplate in advance”; pre-, meditate

Synonym Study

See deliberate.

Example Sentences

To no one’s surprise, the Saudi government had tried to dodge the issue before claiming Khashoggi had been killed by rogue officials, insisting that the slaying and dismemberment was not premeditated.

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Authorities say they believe this suggests the deaths were premeditated.

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The seven accused from government forces are being prosecuted for "premeditated murder".

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He said the act was premeditated and added two days to the requested sentence.

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"You're left with a situation which involves premeditated killing outside of armed conflict, and we refer to that as murder," he said.

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