preterintentional

pret·er·in·tent·ion·al
UK/ˌpɹiːtəɹˌɪnˈtɛnʃn̩(ə)l/US/ˌpɹitəɹˌɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)nəl/US[-ɾəɹ-]

adjective

Additional to or beyond what was intended.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

adjectivepreterintentional (not comparable)
  1. not comparablerareAdditional to or beyond what was intended.

    There was no evil spell, as at the sorceress's shop, but perhaps jactura [Latin: “about to be cast”]: preterintentional.

    1965, Carlo Emilio Gadda, chapter IX, in William Weaver, transl., That Awful Mess on Via Merulana […], New York, N.Y.: George Braziller, →OCLC, page 311
    4 more examples

    Prater intentional or accidental effects [of the holy communion] give no ground to ſeek them as ſuch a cauſe as is not ordained to vvork them, though haply ſome have been converted at that time. […] Becauſe a man hath been converted at his marriage, vvhere the Sermon and benediction have vvrought on him: Is therefore marriage a converting Ordinance?

    1657, Richard Vines, “Whether the Lords Supper be a Converting Ordinance?”, in A Treatise of the Right Institution, Administration, and Receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords-Supper. […], London: […] A. M. for Thomas Underhill […], →OCLC, page 251

    Tho' this piece of a Text be left out of ſome Copies, it is yet in MOST, and in the BEST. And vvhere it chanc'd to be left out, that might eaſily happen thro' inadvertency, or præterintentional Miſtake in the Tranſcriber.

    1709, Erasmus Warren, An Essay towards Shewing the Reasonableness of the Doctrine of the Holy and Undivided Trinity: Or, at Least, the Great Reasonableness of Believing It. […], London: […] J. H. for Henry Mortlock […], →OCLC, page 67

    It is probable that what was done deliberately, intentionally and obviously in the PCP [Portuguese Communist Party] was done—at least in part—unconsciously or preterintentionally in the PSD [Social Democratic Party]. However, the preterintentional (which means wanting to do something and causing much more than that as a result) is part of politics.

    1985 August 30, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, translated by [anonymous], “[Portugal] Communists Most Likely to Gain from Dissolution of Assembly [translation of the article ‘PCP is Going to Gain, the PSD Perhaps, the CDS Perhaps Not’ in Semanario (Lisbon, 6 July 1985)]”, in West Europe Report (JPRS-WER-85-071), Arlington, Va.: Joint Publications Research Service, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, →OCLC, page 117

    [T]echnological activity ‘feeds back’ on the users and modifies them, i.e., it produces auto-plastic and ‘preter-intentional’ retroactive effects on their organisms.

    2021, Carmine Di Martino, “[Martin] Heidegger and the Conception of Technology as Fate”, in Carmine Di Martino, editor, Heidegger and Contemporary Philosophy: Technology, Living, Society & Science (Contributions to Hermeneutics), Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, part I (Technology), page 67
  2. not comparablerarecriminal lawOf a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead.

    The number of intentional homicides and preterintentional homicides reported [in Italy] are^([sic]) available for 1900–1939 and 1946–47.

    1953 September, “Appendix 6. The Deterrent Value of Capital Punishment. III. Statistics.”, in Royal Commission on Capital Punishment 1949–1953: Report […] (Chairman: Ernest Gowers; Cmd. 8932), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, paragraph 60, page 355
    3 more examples

    A crime— […] is preterintentional or beyond the intention, when an injurious or dangerous occurrence is derived from the act or omission which is more serious than the one desired by the agent.

    1940, Jerome Michael, Herbert Wechsler, “Appendix: Section 3. European Codes: Italian Penal Code: Article 43. (Psychological Element in Offences.)”, in Criminal Law and Its Administration: Cases, Statutes and Commentaries (University Casebook Series), Chicago, Ill.: The Foundation Press, →OCLC, page 1294

    There is, however, a not insignificant minority of countries that punishes even the negligent termination of pregnancy: […] In Latin American countries, primarily, ‘praeterintentional’ abortion (the result, as a rule, of violence against an obviously pregnant woman) is punished separately.

    2005, Albin Eser, Hans-Georg Koch, “Impermissible Termination of Pregnancy”, in Emily Silverman, transl., Abortion and the Law: From International Comparison to Legal Policy, The Hague, South Holland: T[obias] M[ichael] C[arel] Asser Press, →ISBN, part II (Current Laws Regulating the Termination of Pregnancy), page 134

    The analysis of the controversial figure of preterintentional crime as established in Ecuadorian and international legislation generates different legal effects in its application.

    2022, Geoconda Del Rocío Sánchez, Juan Carlos Arandia Zambrano, Karen Clemencia Triviño Vera, “Método Multicriterio Neutrosófico para la Detección de Homicidio Preterintencional y su Efectos Jurídicos = Neutrosophic Multicriteria Method for the Detection of Preintentional^([sic – meaning Preterintentional?]) Homicide and Its Legal Effects”, in Florentin Smarandache, Maikel Leyva-Vázquez, editors, Neutrosophic Computing and Machine Learning, volume 24, special number (Aportes de la Neutrosofia en las Ciencias: Contexto Latinoamericano [Contributions of Neutrosophy to the Sciences: Latin American Context]), Gallup, N.M.: University of New Mexico, Neutrosophic Science International Association and Latin American Association of Neutrosophic Sciences, →ISSN, →OCLC, abstract, page 99

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*praiteros
  6. Latinpraeter
  7. Englishpreter-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  9. Proto-Italic*en
  10. Proto-Italic*en-
  11. Latinin-
  12. Latintendō
  13. Latinintendō
  14. Medieval Latinintentiō
  15. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  16. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  17. Medieval Latinintentiōnālis
  18. Englishintentional
  19. Englishpreterintentional

From preter- (prefix meaning ‘beyond’) + intentional (adjective). Later uses, especially sense 2 (“of a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead”) are influenced by Portuguese preterintencional, Spanish preterintencional, etc.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 超意圖的 /超意图的
  • 超意圖的 /超意图的 (chāoyìtú de)of a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead
Finnish tarkoitettua pahempi, tarkoitettua vakavampi
  • tarkoitettua pahempiadditional to or beyond what was intended
  • tarkoitettua vakavampiadditional to or beyond what was intended
  • tarkoitettua vakavampiof a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead
French préterintentionnel, préterintentionnel
  • préterintentionneladditional to or beyond what was intended
  • préterintentionnelof a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead
Italian preterintenzionale
  • preterintenzionaleof a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead
Portuguese preterintencional
  • preterintencionalof a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead
Spanish preterintencional
  • preterintencionalof a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with preterintentional

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

preterintentional. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preterintentional

MLA

“preterintentional.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preterintentional. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preterintentional,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preterintentional.

Source: preterintentional on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.