premeditate

American  

[pri-med-i-teyt] / prɪˈmɛd ɪˌteɪt /

verb (used with object)

premeditated, premeditating

1. to meditate, consider, or plan beforehand.

   to premeditate a murder.

---

premeditate British  

/ prɪˈmɛdɪˌteɪt /

verb

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

---

Synonym Usage

See deliberate.

Other Word Forms

• premeditator
  noun
• premeditative
  adjective
• premeditatedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of premeditate

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

Explanation

When you premeditate, you are planning ahead. While most people associate this word with crime, let's hope you can think of a better reason to premeditate — like buying groceries before a storm. When you meditate, you think deeply. The prefix pre- means “before,” so to premeditate means to think about a situation before you’ve jumped into it. If you’ve ever cooked a meal, you’ve premeditated the ingredients you need to get started. In a courtroom you’ll hear about "premeditated murder," which means the accused killer planned out his crime and it wasn’t a crime of passion. Premeditating can be a good thing, but not when it involves murder.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

premeditate premeditated premeditating

Mayfield wouldn’t say what he’ll do against the Browns, adding “I’m not going to premeditate anything. Once I step inside the lines, I’m a competitor.’

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2022

But defense attorney Tom Jacquinot said in his opening statement that the evidence will show Vrba did not premeditate to kill Steinfeld, who was his friend.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2020

Derek was into discovering things that you couldn’t premeditate.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2020

When I decide to make a movie, I don't premeditate it.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2011

"Then it couldn't have been done by Miss Van Allen!" exclaimed Mrs. Reeves triumphantly, "for Vicky had no reason to premeditate killing a man she had never seen before."

From Vicky Van by Wells, Carolyn

The events of that night have been long a subject of heated debate in South Korea, particularly over whether the murder was premeditated.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

Although Duke Béla's assassination in November 1272 appears to have been partly or wholly premeditated, the manner of the killing indicates that it was not carried out calmly.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2025

Detective Constable Lauren Speight described Lipscombe as "calculating, premeditated, and well-organised".

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025

The prosecutor’s office added that early investigations indicated the attacks on government property were premeditated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2025

“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion,” Roosevelt declared, “the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

He is smart enough to possibly be given credit for premeditating this eremitic media strategy; he is also obstreperous enough simply to hate having his privacy invaded.

From Time Magazine Archive

No, say the four defense psychologists and psychiatrists who have examined Sirhan; as a paranoid schizophrenic, Sirhan was, in effect, incapable of fully premeditating his deed or weighing its risks.

From Time Magazine Archive

The deadly, premeditated dullness of financial ads last week brought scornful shouts from two premeditating wits.

From Time Magazine Archive

In that case your husband's position is entirely different—he is no longer a criminal premeditating a crime; and the sentence pronounced against him may be quite a light one.

From Woman on Her Own, False Gods and The Red Robe Three Plays By Brieux by Miall, Bernard

If we really wish to decrease and discourage vice, however, let us go about it in a logical manner and hold up a terrible example to those premeditating crime.

From Said the Observer by Stellman, Louis J. (Louis John)