We often hear about "premeditated murder:" the kind that was planned out beforehand, as opposed to the kind committed impulsively. (But premeditated has nonviolent uses, too, which we'll explore today.)

See if you can recall five other words that we associate with crime:

1. To c_n____ a crime is to overlook it instead of punishing it.

2. To i_pl_____ someone in a crime is to get them involved in it.

3. To commit a crime under d_r___ is to do it because someone is threatening to hurt you if you don't.

4. To commit a crime under e_t__uating circumstances is to do it for reasons that people can actually understand or sympathize with.

5. To act with sci_____ is to commit a crime even though you're fully aware that it's a crime. Possibly after having premeditated the crime.

If you look inside the word premeditate, you notice meditate, an interesting word that can mean two nearly opposite things: "to empty your mind of thoughts" and "to think carefully about something." In the case of premeditation, the meditation is the second kind: the one where you carefully plan things out. Hopefully not murder.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

"Premeditate" has Latin bits that literally mean "to consider before."

We've used it in English since the 1500s to mean "to think about something, or plan something out, in advance."

In other words, when you premeditate an action, or when you premeditate on some action, you get it all planned out in your mind before you actually do it.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb.

It's both the transitive kind ("They premeditated every move") and the intransitive kind ("They premeditated;" "They premeditated on every move").

But we almost always use it in the past participle form, as an adjective: "Every move was premeditated;" "Those premeditated moves played out perfectly."

Other forms: 

The other verb forms are "premeditated" and "premeditating."

If you need an adjective, most people just use "premeditated," as in "premeditated crime." There's also "premeditative," but it's rare.

The noun is "premeditation." It's usually uncountable: "Yeah, that required a lot of premeditation." But it can also be countable: "That required quite a few premeditations."

how to use it:

"Premeditate" is a formal, semi-common word with a lawyerly tone.

We most often talk about premeditated criminal acts, large and small, from lies and thievery to attacks and murders.

That's what people expect when you drop the word "premeditate" into conversation, so you can defy that expectation for a laugh. It's sort of like when Young MC sings about girls "lying on the beach perpetrating a tan." You could talk about someone premeditating some action that's merely mischievous, as in "Someone pulled the fire alarm right before the test? Sounds premeditated." Or some action that's merely secretive, as in "It's so endearing how he surprised me with a home-cooked dinner, then walked me back through all his premeditations."

examples:

"Murder in the first degree—premeditated homicide—is the most serious charge tried in our criminal courts."
   — Reginald Rose, Twelve Angry Men, 1954

"After No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood went up against each other at the Oscars, [producer Scott Rudin] said being involved with two such 'challenging, provocative movies' would be enough for any career. 'When I decide to make a movie, I don't premeditate it. It is instinct... It's part of the pleasure of doing this job, though; you never know if it will work.'"
  — Vanessa Thorpe, quoting Scott Rudin, The Guardian, 22 January 2011

has this page helped you understand "premeditate"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "premeditate" without saying "plot" or "contrive."

try it out:

In a book about rhetoric and public speaking, Sam Leith described a British Army officer who delivered an unscripted and highly effective speech to thousands of young soldiers:

"He might have thought about it a bit beforehand—and no shame in that. The most effective off-the-cuff speeches are premeditated, and the best premeditated speeches appear off the cuff."

Could you explain what Leith means, and whether or not you agree?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Recapitate the Headlines."

I'll give you some real but decapitated headlines, along with a selection of heads, and you try to reassemble them as they were originally published. (Or, feel free to play in "wrong answers only" mode, assembling the headlines in whatever way you find funniest.) You can check out some examples here.

Try these today:

    __________ a fish
    __________ Blackpool drugs gang
    __________ Tinder for dairy cows

   Farmer creates
   Source of a Canadian wildfire was
   Talking parrot helps bring down

To see the correct versions, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. The exact opposite of PREMEDITATED is UNPREMEDITATED, but a pretty close opposite is

A. ORCHIDACEOUS (showy and extravagant, like the tropical flower).
B. SCRUPULOUS (careful to do every little thing in a correct way, especially morally).
C. EXTEMPORANEOUS (done on the spur of the moment, without planning or practice).

2. Amy Tara Koch wrote that "every element of a long flight [with young children] must be premeditated: safety, meals, hydration, sleep, potty visits, entertainment..." Her choice of the word "premeditated" suggests that flying with little kids is a bit like pulling off _____.

A. a heist
B. an all-nighter
C. an Oscar-winning performance

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. A From the game: Source of a Canadian wildfire was a fish Talking parrot helps bring down Blackpool drugs gang Farmer creates Tinder for dairy cows

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.