To regard as probable; to expect or look forward to; to act in advance of.
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Latin16th centurywell-attested
From Latin "anticipāre" (to take before, forestall, foresee), a compound of "ante-" (before) and "capere" (to take, seize). The prefix "ante-" derives from PIE *h₂ent- (front, forehead), which also produced Greek "antí" (against, opposite), Sanskrit "ánti" (near, in the presence of), and Hittite "ḫanti" (in front). The verb "capere" comes from PIE *keh₂p- (to grasp, seize), yielding a vast Latin word family: "captiō" (a catching, whence "caption
Did you know?
Strict usage guideslong insisted that 'anticipate' should onlymean 'to act in advance of' (anticipating an attack by striking first), not merely 'to expect.' The distinction is that anticipationimplies action — you don't just foresee something, you 'take' it before it arrives. This original sense of proactive seizing, not passive expecting, is what the Latin
in 1926 still complained about the diluted usage, but the battle was already lost. The semantic shift from active forestalling to passive expectation mirrors the general softening of many Latin-derived English verbs. Key roots: ante- (Latin: "before"), capere (Latin: "to take, seize"), *keh₂p- (Proto-Indo-European: "to grasp").