predispose

Too much vitamin B6 has been associated with nerve damage, and even modestly additional amounts of vitamin C or vitamin D in some people can predispose to the formation of kidney stones.

— ronald s. litman, Philly.com, "New study on supplemental vitamins proves they're useless and a waste of money," 5 June 2018
People with celiac disease are genetically predisposed to launch a self-destructive immune response when a component of gluten called gliadin penetrates their intestinal lining and sets off inflammatory cells in the tissue below.

— kelly servick, Science | AAAS, "What’s really behind ‘gluten sensitivity’?," 23 May 2018
But are op-eds only preaching to the choir — convincing partisans already predisposed to agreeing with them?

— alexander coppock, Washington Post, "This column will probably change your mind," 12 May 2018
Dry eye symptoms can also predispose you to an infection.

— korin miller, SELF, "15 Dry Eye Symptoms You Should Know About—and How to Handle Them," 30 Apr. 2018
Their research interests range from how to combat antibiotic resistance (Bernhardt) to cancer-causing mutations in blood cells that also predispose people to heart disease (Ebert), according to the institute.

— BostonGlobe.com, "The week in business," 25 May 2018
The first step is a genetic mutation before birth that predisposes a child to the risk of developing this form of leukemia.

— meera senthilingam and jessie yeung, CNN, "A germ-free childhood could trigger leukemia, scientist suggests," 22 May 2018
Limitations include the possibility of reverse causality because physicians who receive industry payments may be predisposed to prescribe opioids.

— german lopez, Vox, "Drug companies bought doctors fancy meals — and then those doctors prescribed more opioids," 15 May 2018
Certain traits may predispose people to higher levels of celebrity worship, including anxiety, general irresponsibility and difficulty forming close relationships, McCutcheon says.

— jamie ducharme, Time, "Why People Are Obsessed With the Royals, According to Psychologists," 26 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'predispose.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

What is the difference between disposition and predisposition?

What exactly is someone's disposition? And is it different from a predisposition? A person's disposition is his or her usual mood or attitude. Are you typically pretty happy? You could be described as having a happy—or cheerful, or sunny—disposition. Animals have dispositions too; a dog with a nervous disposition doesn't easily relax into a restful pup curled up at someone’s feet. In this use, disposition is a synonym of temperament; both words refer to the complex set of attitudes and inclinations that guide behavior.

Disposition can also mean "tendency" or "inclination," and in such cases it has a surprising synonym: predisposition. A disposition to exaggerate is the same as a predisposition to exaggerate. A disposition toward humility is likewise the same thing as a predisposition toward humility. The fact of being "in advance" that the prefix pre- implies hardly matters when tendency and inclination are concerned, since both concern what is likely to happen in the future.

While phrases like "a disposition to cooperate" are about as common as "a predisposition to cooperate," when the context is medical, predisposition is far more common. Phrases like "a genetic predisposition to nearsightedness" appear much more frequently in published, edited text than similar phrases employing disposition.

Did You Know?

Predispose usually means putting someone in a frame of mind to be willing to do something. So a longtime belief in the essential goodness of people, for example, will predispose us to trust a stranger. Teachers know that coming from a stable family generally predisposes children to learn. And viewing television violence for years may leave young people with a predisposition to accept real violence as normal. The medical sense of the word is similar. Thus, a person's genes may predispose her to diabetes or arthritis, and malnutrition over a long period can predispose you to all kinds of infections.

First Known Use of predispose

1646

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Synonym Discussion of predispose

incline, bias, dispose, predispose mean to influence one to have or take an attitude toward something. incline implies a tendency to favor one of two or more actions or conclusions.