pre-empt
to take action to prevent something from happening
TRANSLATION
pre-empt = vorwegnehmen, zuvorkommen, verhindern --- GOOGLE INDEX pre-empt: approximately 5,800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The government must PRE-EMPT a future constitutional crisis by setting up a forum to decide how England is to be governed, a committee of MPs has said.
(BBC News)
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Just in time for last week’s release date of the Surface Pro, Apple PRE-EMPTED the launch by releasing a new iPad with the same amount of storage as Microsoft’s new tablet-laptop hybrid, but at a cheaper price.
(International Business Times)
(BBC News)
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Just in time for last week’s release date of the Surface Pro, Apple PRE-EMPTED the launch by releasing a new iPad with the same amount of storage as Microsoft’s new tablet-laptop hybrid, but at a cheaper price.
(International Business Times)
Did you
know?
pre-empt (also written as preempt)
verb
- take action in order to prevent an anticipated event from happening
- act in advance of someone in order to prevent them from doing something
pre-emption
noun
pre-emptive
adjective
(Oxford English Dictionaries)
---
Pre-empt is a back-formation of the noun pre-emption, which stems from pre (before) + emption (from the Latin emptio, meaning purchase). Pre-emption literally means to have the right to buy before others. Emption is meanwhile an outdated term that is found only in pre-emption.
Pre-empt was originally an American English term utilized primarily in business and legal documents. Usage in the New York times can be traced back to the 1850s, much of which involved reporting on companies who bought tracts of land in the west before others had the chance.
In the late 1950s in the U.S., television and the Cold War had much to do with popularizing the word pre-empt. In what we now call "breaking news" segments, television broadcasters would "pre-empt" regularly scheduled shows for special broadcasts. In this case pre-empt became synonymous with displace or "take the place of."
The Cold War also led to increased usage of the word pre-empt. In this sense it describes the military tactic of going after an enemy before it has the chance to attack. The idea then was to pre-empt a Russian nuclear attack by launching missiles into Russia first. The military called these "pre-emptive strikes." A more recent example of this strategy was the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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SYNONYMS
head-off, prevent, arrogate, expropriate, seize, usurp, displace, stave off, forestall, ward off, interdict
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We can pre-empt further customer complaints by offering replacement products at no cost."
verb
- take action in order to prevent an anticipated event from happening
- act in advance of someone in order to prevent them from doing something
pre-emption
noun
pre-emptive
adjective
(Oxford English Dictionaries)
---
Pre-empt is a back-formation of the noun pre-emption, which stems from pre (before) + emption (from the Latin emptio, meaning purchase). Pre-emption literally means to have the right to buy before others. Emption is meanwhile an outdated term that is found only in pre-emption.
Pre-empt was originally an American English term utilized primarily in business and legal documents. Usage in the New York times can be traced back to the 1850s, much of which involved reporting on companies who bought tracts of land in the west before others had the chance.
In the late 1950s in the U.S., television and the Cold War had much to do with popularizing the word pre-empt. In what we now call "breaking news" segments, television broadcasters would "pre-empt" regularly scheduled shows for special broadcasts. In this case pre-empt became synonymous with displace or "take the place of."
The Cold War also led to increased usage of the word pre-empt. In this sense it describes the military tactic of going after an enemy before it has the chance to attack. The idea then was to pre-empt a Russian nuclear attack by launching missiles into Russia first. The military called these "pre-emptive strikes." A more recent example of this strategy was the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
---
SYNONYMS
head-off, prevent, arrogate, expropriate, seize, usurp, displace, stave off, forestall, ward off, interdict
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We can pre-empt further customer complaints by offering replacement products at no cost."
