premeditation
Americannoun
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an act or instance of premeditating.
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Law. sufficient forethought to impute deliberation and intent to commit the act.
noun
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law prior resolve to do some act or to commit a crime
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the act of premeditating
Etymology
Origin of premeditation
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin praemeditātiōn- (stem of praemeditātiō ) a considering beforehand. See premeditate, -ion
Explanation
Premeditation is when you plan something ahead of time. A car thief's premeditation might include following a driver and noting where he typically parks his Mercedes. You're most likely to see the noun premeditation when someone's talking about crime. Almost any kind of crime or wrongdoing is considered worse, especially in a courtroom, if there's premeditation involved. An assault that's spontaneous isn't punished as harshly as one that involves premeditation, in which the attacker plans the assault before carrying it out. The Latin root, praemeditationem, combines prae, "before," and meditari, "to consider."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The judge ruled last week that the three Mexican defendants, identified only by their first names -- Jesus Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus -- acted with premeditation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Clancy does not deny killing the three, but says there was no premeditation and she was experiencing psychosis at the time.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Making a U-turn, he added, is evidence of premeditation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
He had delivered the day’s biggest laugh when, in a dramatic twist at the end of the trial, the prosecution had called him to the stand to prove premeditation on Gamble’s part.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
It was no doubt this, Florence’s age and kindness, that led Elizabeth, with no premeditation, to take Florence into her confidence.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
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