Prepense
[prih-PENS]
Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Anglo-Norman French, 17th century
1.
Deliberate; intentional.
Examples of Prepense in a sentence
"The bird seemed to swoop down at my cat with a prepense hostility."
"The prosecution sought to show that the defendant committed the crime with malice prepense."
About Prepense
“Prepense” is based on the Anglo-Norman French term “prépensé,” meaning “thought of in advance.”
Did you Know?
Determining whether a crime was committed by prepense or spontaneously is an important part of criminal proceedings. Most agree a crime is worse when it has been considered in advance and carried out with full awareness of its potential harms to society than if it has occurred impulsively or in recklessness. In court cases, the expression “malice prepense” refers to the accusation that a defendant has acted with calculated ill intentions, which is very different from a person who commits a crime on the spur of the moment without reflecting upon its outcomes.
