![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prepossessing
Mar. 15th, 2021 07:40 amprepossessing (pree-puh-ZES-ing) - adj., impressing favorably, attractive.
Also, in an archaic sense, causing prejudice, making this another word that has evolved into an opposite meaning. But more, it's also another from the department of little-used opposites, since you are far more likely to meet unprepossessing than this naked root. There's also a verb, to prepossess, but that's even rarer, especially outside of (outdated) legal contexts. First appears around 1640, and the roots are, quite simply, pre-, before + possess, or to possess beforehand, the way a prejudice does.
---L.
Also, in an archaic sense, causing prejudice, making this another word that has evolved into an opposite meaning. But more, it's also another from the department of little-used opposites, since you are far more likely to meet unprepossessing than this naked root. There's also a verb, to prepossess, but that's even rarer, especially outside of (outdated) legal contexts. First appears around 1640, and the roots are, quite simply, pre-, before + possess, or to possess beforehand, the way a prejudice does.
---L.
