preponderance 復習
A Los Angeles judge has ruled that California law requires coffee companies to carry an ominous cancer warning label because of a chemical produced in the roasting process. …
“While plaintiff offered evidence that consumption of coffee increases the risk of harm to the fetus, to infants, to children and to adults, defendants’ medical and epidemiology experts testified that they had no opinion on causation,” Berle wrote. “Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health.” (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、preponderance /prɪpάndərəns/ です。記事にある “a preponderance of evidence” を文脈から「多くの証拠」と推測しました。以下で意味等を確認していきます。
まず意味を Cambridge Dictionary でみると、“the largest part or greatest amount”とあり、LDOCE には a preponderance of the evidence で “most of the evidence in a law case” と定義されていました。今回の記事では後者の意味で使われています。
次に語源を ONLINE ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY でみると、“1680s, "greater weight," from Latin praeponderans, present participle of praeponderare "make heavier" (see preponderate). Sense of "greater importance" is from 1780; that of "greater number" is from 1845.” とあります。
以上のことから、preponderance は「優位」を表し、a preponderance of the evidence は特に法律の分野で用いられる表現であることがわかりました。(OkaUchi)
