Predominate

Predominate is a verb meaning to be the most common or important element in a group, to have predominance, or to constitute the main feature of a context. It describes situations where one element, person, or idea holds greater influence, frequency, or status than others. The term is used in academic, scientific, and everyday language to indicate relative dominance rather than absolute exclusion of others.

Etymology: Predominate comes from Latin praedominari, from prae- “before” and dominari “to rule,” and entered English in the late Middle Ages, influenced by related Romance forms such as predominer. The related noun is predominance; the adjective is predominant; the adverb form is predominantly.

Usage: Predominate is typically intransitive or transitive with a prepositional complement, as in “Spanish predominates in the region” or “A few species predominate over others in this habitat.” It can take “in,” “among,” or “over.” Note that predominate is a verb; the adjective form predominent is not used to modify nouns. The noun form is predominance, and the related adjective is predominant, as in “the predominant language is Spanish.”

See also: predominance, predominant, predominantly, preponderance, dominance.