Meanings
present singular third person anticipates · participle present anticipating · participle past anticipated · past anticipated
- transitiveTo act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.
He would probably have died by the hand of the executioner, if indeed the executioner had not been anticipated by the populace.
1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XX, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC1 more example
c. 1824 (written, published in 1891) Robert Hall, Fragment on Popery When two parties, each formidable for their numbers, and the weight of their influence and property, are animated by an equal degree of zeal, it is natural to anticipate the final success of that which possesses the most inherent strength.
- transitiveTo know of (something) before it happens; to expect.
to anticipate the evils of life
4 more examples
to anticipate the pleasures of a visit
Please anticipate a journey of an hour from your house to the airport.
The task was more to Appleby's liking than the one he had anticipated, and it was necessary, since the smaller merchants in Cuba and also in parts of Peninsular Spain have no great confidence in bankers, and prefer a packet of golden onzas or a bag of pesetas to the best accredited cheque.
1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 31, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLCBut surely they did not anticipate the ease with which their team raced into an almost impregnable half-time lead.
2011 October 2, Jonathan Jurejko, “Bolton 1 - 5 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport - transitiveTo eagerly wait for (something)
Little Johnny started to anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus a week before Christmas.
Synonyms: look forward to
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo eagerly wait for (something)
More synonyms by meaning
verbmake a prediction about; tell in advance
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinanticipātus
- Englishanticipate
Borrowed from Latin anticipātus, perfect passive participle of anticipō (“to anticipate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ante- (“before”), + capiō (“to take”, cip- when prefixed) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See capable.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek προλαμβάνω, προλαμβάνω
- προλαμβάνω (prolambánō)to act before someone
- προλαμβάνω (prolambánō)to know of something before it manifests
Arabic تَوَقَّعَ, اِرْتَقَبَ
- تَوَقَّعَ (tawaqqaʕa)to know of something before it manifests
- اِرْتَقَبَ (irtaqaba)to know of something before it manifests
Bulgarian изпреварвам, прибързвам
- изпреварвам (izprevarvam)to act before someone
- прибързвам (pribărzvam)to take up or introduce something prematurely
- предви́ждам (predvíždam)to know of something before it manifests
Catalan anticipar, preveure
- anticiparto know of something before it manifests
- preveureto know of something before it manifests
Chinese Mandarin 預料 /预料, 預想 /预想
- 預料 /预料 (yùliào)to know of something before it manifests
- 預想 /预想 (yùxiǎng)to know of something before it manifests
- 期待 (qī dài)to eagerly await
- 拭目以待 (shìmùyǐdài)to eagerly await
Danish forudse
- forudseto know of something before it manifests
Esperanto anticipi, anticipi
- anticipito act before someone
- anticipito take up or introduce something prematurely
- antaŭĝojito eagerly await
Finnish ennakoida, varautua
- ennakoidato act before someone
- varautuato act before someone
- ennakoidato take up or introduce something prematurely
- odottaato know of something before it manifests
- varautuato know of something before it manifests
- odottaato eagerly await
French anticiper, prévoir
- anticiperto know of something before it manifests
- prévoirto know of something before it manifests
German vorgreifen, erwarten
- vorgreifento act before someone
- erwartento take up or introduce something prematurely
- voraussehento know of something before it manifests
- vorausahnento know of something before it manifests
Hungarian izgatottan/örömmel/repesve/türelmetlenül vár, alig vár
- izgatottan/örömmel/repesve/türelmetlenül várto eagerly await
- alig várto eagerly await
Italian anticipare, prevedere
- anticipareto act before someone
- prevedereto know of something before it manifests
Japanese 予想する
- 予想する (yosō suru)to know of something before it manifests
Korean 예상하다
- 예상하다 (yesanghada)to know of something before it manifests
Latin anticipō, praesūmō
- anticipōto act before someone
- praesūmōto know of something before it manifests
- anteveniōto know of something before it manifests
Latvian paredzēt
- paredzētto know of something before it manifests
Māori whakaneinei
- whakaneineito know of something before it manifests
Polish przewidzieć, antycypować
- przewidziećto know of something before it manifests
- antycypowaćto know of something before it manifests
Portuguese antecipar-se, antecipar
- antecipar-seto act before someone
- anteciparto take up or introduce something prematurely
- anteciparto know of something before it manifests
- preverto know of something before it manifests
Romanian anticipa, prevedea
- anticipato act before someone
- prevedeato know of something before it manifests
- anticipato know of something before it manifests
Russian опережа́ть, опереди́ть
- опережа́ть (operežátʹ)to act before someone
- опереди́ть (operedítʹ)to act before someone
- предвосхища́ть (predvosxiščátʹ)to take up or introduce something prematurely
- предвосхити́ть (predvosxitítʹ)to take up or introduce something prematurely
- предви́деть (predvídetʹ)to know of something before it manifests
Spanish anticiparse, anticipar
- anticiparseto act before someone
- anticiparto know of something before it manifests
Cite this entry
anticipate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anticipate
“anticipate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anticipate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anticipate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anticipate.
Source: anticipate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.