ANTICIPA'TION, noun 1. The act of taking up, placing, or considering something before the proper time, in natural order; prevention. 2. Foretaste; previous view or impression of what is to happen afterward; as, the anticipation of the joys of heaven. The happy anticipation of a renewed existence in company with the spirits of the just. 3. Previous notion; preconceived opinion, produced in the mind, before the truth is known; slight previous impression. 4. The attack of a fever before the usual time. 5. In music, the obtrusion of a chord upon a syncopated note, to which it forms a discord.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI