prepare

See also: prépare, préparé, and preparé

English

Etymology

Partially a back-formation from preparation; and partially borrowed from Middle French preparer, from Classical Latin praeparāre (“make ready in advance”), from prae- (“pre-”) + parāre (“make ready”). Compare Middle English preparaten (“to prepare”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈpɛə/, /pɹɪˈpɛː/
(General American) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈpɛ(ə)ɹ/, /pɹəˈpɛ(ə)ɹ/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Verb

prepare (third-person singular simple present prepares, present participle preparing, simple past and past participle prepared)

(transitive) To make ready for a specific future purpose; to set up; to assemble or equip.
We prepared the spacecraft for takeoff.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 107:36:
  that they may prepare a city for habitation
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  our souls, not yet prepared for upper light
(transitive) To make ready for eating or drinking; to cook.
We prepared a fish for dinner.
(intransitive) To make oneself ready; to get ready, make preparation.
We prepared for a bumpy ride.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
  As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.
- 2023 April 10, “Taiwan's frontline islanders resigned in face of Chinese military might”, in France 24‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-04-10‎^[2]:
  Tourists visited a memorial hall adorned by a slogan in the handwriting of Chiang Kai-shek, Taiwan's divisive former nationalist leader: "Stay alert and prepare for battle."
(transitive) To produce or make by combining elements; to synthesize, compound.
She prepared a meal from what was left in the cupboards.

Usage notes

This is a catenative verb that can take a following verb in its to + infinitive form. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

busk (obsolete), graith (obsolete), ready, yark (obsolete)
(To make oneself ready): get ready

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

to make ready for a specific future purpose

Albanian: përgatis
Arabic: جَهَّزَ (jahhaza), حَضَّرَ (ḥaḍḍara), أَعَدَّ (ʔaʕadda)
Egyptian Arabic: جهز (gahhiz), حضر (ḥaḍḍar)

Moroccan Arabic: وْجّد (wajjad)
Armenian: պատրաստել (hy) (patrastel)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܗܲܕܸܪ (hādir)
Azerbaijani: hazırlamaq (az)
Basque: prestatu, atondu, gertatu
Belarusian: гатава́ць impf (hatavácʹ), прыгатава́ць pf (pryhatavácʹ), рыхтава́ць impf (ryxtavácʹ), падрыхтава́ць pf (padryxtavácʹ)
Bulgarian: подго́твям (bg) (podgótvjam)
Burmese: ပြင် (my) (prang), ကိုင် (my) (kuing), ရင် (my) (rang), စီစဉ် (my) (cicany)
Catalan: preparar (ca)
Cebuano: andam
Chinese:
Mandarin: 準備／准备 (zh) (zhǔnbèi)
Czech: připravit (cs) pf, chystat (cs) impf
Danish: berede
Dutch: voorbereiden (nl), prepareren (nl), klaarmaken (nl)
Esperanto: prepari
Estonian: valmistada, valmistama
Finnish: valmistella (fi), varustaa (fi), laittaa valmiiksi
French: préparer (fr)
Galician: preparar (gl)
Georgian: მომზადება (momzadeba)
German: vorbereiten (de), präparieren (de)
Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (manwjan)
Greek: προετοιμάζω (el) (proetoimázo), ετοιμάζω (el) (etoimázo)
Ancient: σκευάζω (skeuázō)
Haitian Creole: prepare
Hebrew: הכין (hekhín)
Hiligaynon: handa, aman
Hindi: तैयार करना (hi) (taiyār karnā)
Hungarian: előkészít (hu), elkészít (hu)
Icelandic: undirbúa (is)
Ilocano: agsagana
Irish: ullmhaigh, réitigh, deasaigh
Istriot: parparà
Italian: preparare (it)
Japanese: 準備する (ja) (じゅんびする, jumbi suru)
Kazakh: дайындау (daiyndau), әзірлеу (äzırleu), даярлау (daärlau)
Khmer: រៀប (km) (riəp), សំរួច (sɑmruəc)
Korean: 준비하다 (ko) (junbihada), 마견하다 (magyeonhada)
Kyrgyz: даярдоо (ky) (dayardoo)
Lao: ກຽມ (kīam), ຄາດ (lo) (khāt)
Latgalian: gatavēt, rūst, taiseit
Latin: parō (la)
Latvian: gatavot, taisīt
Lithuanian: ruošti
Lombard: preparà
Macedonian: подготвува impf (podgotvuva), подготви pf (podgotvi)
Malay: sediakan, mempersiapkan, mempersediakan
Maori: whakareri
Mari
Eastern: ышташ (yštaš)
Middle English: forgreithen
Mongolian: бэлтгэх (mn) (beltgex)
Ngazidja Comorian: upanga
Northern Sami: gárvvistit
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forberede

Nynorsk: førebu
Old English: æfnan
Old French: aprester
Oromo: qopphaa'uu
Persian: آماده کردن (fa) (âmâde kardan), تیار کردن (tayyâr kardan), آمودن (fa)
Polish: przygotować (pl) pf, przygotowywać (pl) impf
Portuguese: preparar (pt)
Quechua: allichay (qu)
Romanian: prepara (ro), pregăti (ro)
Russian: гото́вить (ru) impf (gotóvitʹ), подгото́вить (ru) pf (podgotóvitʹ), пригото́вить (ru) pf (prigotóvitʹ), подгота́вливать (ru) impf (podgotávlivatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: припре́мити pf, прѝправити pf

Roman: priprémiti (sh) pf, prìpraviti (sh) pf
Slovak: pripravovať impf, pripraviť pf
Slovene: pripravljati impf, pripraviti (sl) pf
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: pśigótowaś impf or pf
Spanish: preparar (es)
Swahili: andaa (sw)
Swedish: förbereda (sv)
Tagalog: maghanda, ihanda
Tajik: тайёр кардан (tg) (tayyor kardan), омода кардан (omoda kardan)
Thai: เตรียม (th) (dtriiam), จัด (th) (jàt), แต่ง (th) (dtɛ̀ng)
Turkish: hazırlamak (tr)
Turkmen: taýýarlamak
Ukrainian: готува́ти impf (hotuváty), підготува́ти pf (pidhotuváty), приготува́ти pf (pryhotuváty), гото́вити impf (hotóvyty), рихтува́ти impf (ryxtuváty)
Urdu: تیار کرنا (taiyār karnā)
Uzbek: tayyorlamoq (uz), hozirlamoq (uz)
Vietnamese: chuẩn bị (vi)
Walloon: aprester (wa), apontyî (wa)
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

to make ready for eating or drinking

Arabic:
Moroccan Arabic: وجد (wajjad)
Armenian: պատրաստել (hy) (patrastel)
Bulgarian: приго́твям (bg) (prigótvjam), готвя (bg) (gotvja)
Catalan: preparar (ca), fer (ca)
Czech: připravit (cs)
Danish: tilberede
Esperanto: pretigi
Finnish: valmistaa (fi), tehdä (fi), kokata (fi), laittaa (fi)
French: préparer (fr), apprêter (fr)
German: zubereiten (de), vorbereiten (de)
Greek:
Ancient: σκευάζω (skeuázō)
Hebrew: הֵכִין (hechín)
Irish: deasaigh
Italian: preparare (it)
Khmer: ហុង (km) (hoŋ), បោប (km) (baop)
Latvian: gatavot
Maori: taute (of food for cooking), taka, whakataka, pihe (refers only to food)
Ngazidja Comorian: upiha
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tilberede
Persian: پختن (fa)
Portuguese: preparar (pt), fazer (pt)
Quechua: wakichiy
Russian: гото́вить (ru) impf (gotóvitʹ), пригото́вить (ru) pf (prigotóvitʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: priprémiti (sh) pf, prìpraviti (sh) pf, priréditi (sh) pf
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: pśigótowaś impf or pf
Spanish: preparar (es), hacer (es)
Swahili: kuandaa (sw), ≈ (sth) for (sb) kuandalia
Swedish: förbereda (sv)
Turkish: sofra kurmak (tr), hazırlamak (tr)
Walloon: aprester (wa), apontyî (wa)

to make oneself ready

Arabic: اِسْتَعَدَّ (istaʕadda), تَأَهَبَ (taʔahaba)
Moroccan Arabic: وجد راسه (wajjad rāsu)
Armenian: պատրաստվել (hy) (patrastvel)
Azerbaijani: hazırlaşmaq (az)
Belarusian: гатава́цца impf (hatavácca), прыгатава́цца pf (pryhatavácca), рыхтава́цца impf (ryxtavácca), падрыхтава́цца pf (padryxtavácca)
Bulgarian: подго́твям се (bg) impf (podgótvjam se)
Catalan: preparar-se
Cherokee: ᎠᏛᏅᎢᏍᏗᎭ (advnvisdiha)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 準備／准备 (zh) (zhǔnbèi)
Czech: připravit se (cs)
Esperanto: prepariĝi
Finnish: valmistautua (fi), varautua (fi), varustautua (fi)
French: se préparer (fr)
German: sich vorbereiten (de)
Guaraní: ñembosako'i
Hebrew: התכונן (hitkonén)
Hungarian: felkészül (hu), készül (hu), előkészül (hu)
Irish: ullmhaigh, stócáil
Italian: prepararsi (it)
Japanese: 準備する (ja) (じゅんびする, junbi suru)
Khmer: បម្រុង (km) (bɑmroŋ)
Korean: 준비하다 (ko) (junbihada)
Latin: paror (la)
Latvian: gatavoties
Middle English: dressen
Ngazidja Comorian: udjihuɗumu
Persian: آمادن (fa)
Polish: przygotowywać się (pl) impf, przygotować się (pl) pf
Portuguese: preparar-se
Romanian: pregăti (ro), prepara (ro)
Russian: гото́виться (ru) impf (gotóvitʹsja), подгото́виться (ru) pf (podgotóvitʹsja)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: priprémiti se (sh) pf, sprémiti se (sh) pf
Slovak: pripravovať sa impf, pripraviť sa pf
Spanish: prepararse
Swahili: andaa (sw)
Swedish: förbereda (sv) sig
Turkish: hazırlanmak (tr)
Ukrainian: готува́тися impf (hotuvátysja), гото́витися impf (hotóvytysja), підготува́тися pf (pidhotuvátysja), приготува́тися pf (pryhotuvátysja), рихтува́тися impf (ryxtuvátysja)
Walloon: s' aprester (wa), s' apontyî (wa)

to produce by combining elements

Czech: připravit (cs)
Dutch: voorbereiden (nl)
Finnish: valmistaa (fi), tehdä (fi), laittaa (fi)
French: préparer (fr), combiner (fr)
Khmer: ស្លុក (km) (slok), ចំអិន (cɑm’ən)
Latvian: gatavot
Persian: ساختن (fa)
Swahili: andaa (sw)
Swedish: förbereda (sv)
Walloon: aprester (wa), apontyî (wa)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Norman: ^{(please verify)} graie (Jersey)
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} ullaich

Noun

prepare

(obsolete) preparation
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], line 130:
  Go levy men, and make prepare for war;

Anagrams

paperer, repaper

Galician

Verb

prepare

inflection of preparar:
1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
2. third-person singular imperative

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French préparer (“prepare”), from Latin praeparāre (“make ready in advance”), from prae- (“pre-”) + parāre (“make ready”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pɣepaɣe/

Verb

prepare

prepare

Portuguese

Verb

prepare

inflection of preparar:
1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [preˈpare]

Verb

prepare

third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of prepara

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pɾeˈpaɾe/ [pɾeˈpa.ɾe]
Rhymes: -aɾe
Syllabification: pre‧pa‧re

Verb

prepare

inflection of preparar:
1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
2. third-person singular imperative