Picture two pans hanging level, and then one of them sinking. Something has been put on that side until it counts for more than everything on the other. Every use of this word is a report on that moment: which side went down, and by how much. Sometimes what was piled on is people or things, so the answer is a matter of counting. Sometimes it is force or evidence, so the answer is a matter of weighing. Either way, the word never describes the pans while they are level.
From the word’s history
The source analyses preponderance as preponderant plus the noun ending -ance, that is, the state of being the side that outweighs the others.
本批評證把 preponderance 分析成 preponderant（佔上風的）加上名詞字尾 -ance（某種狀態），也就是「處在壓過其他人的狀態」，正好是天平沉下去那一邊。
Wiktionary entry for preponderance supplied in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1212221545:27085), etymology_text: From preponderant + -ance.
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。