English

Adjective

preëmptive ‎(comparative more preëmptive, superlative most preëmptive)

1. Alternative spelling of preemptive
   • 1904, Buffalo Historical Society (Buffalo, N.Y.), Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, p289

     The object of this company in taking their conveyance from the Indians in the form of a lease was to evade the preëmptive right.

   • 2002, The New Yorker Online Only, Conversation: The Next War, at this site

     Once the doctrine of preëmptive war is out there, then, first India, clearly, but many other people, could say that this is ideal, thank you. All these conditions are met.

   • 2003, William Z. Ripley, Main Street and Wall Street 1929, p43

     But this fails to meet the objection that if a considerable number of shareholders were thus compelled to go into the public market to buy enough shares to maintain their proportionate interest, they would probably have to pay an excessive price — a price at all events greater than would attach to the exercise of their preëmptive right.

Related terms

• preëmpt
• preëmptible
• preëmption
• preëmptioner
• preëmptively
• preëmptor
• preëmptory

References

• preëmptive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913, see page 1128.