PREPOND'ERATE, verb transitive [Latin proepondero; proe, before, and pondero, to weigh.]

1. To outweigh; to overpower by weight.

An inconsiderable weight, by distance from the center of the balance, will preponderate greater magnitudes.

2. To overpower by stronger influence or moral power.

PREPOND'ERATE, verb intransitive To exceed in weight; hence, to incline or descend, as the scale of a balance.

That is no just balance in which the heaviest side will not preponderate

1. To exceed in influence or power; hence, to incline to one side.

By putting every argument on one side and the other, into the balance, we must form a judgment which side preponderates.