preliminary

English

Alternative forms

• præliminary (archaic)

Etymology

From the French préliminaire or from Modern Latin praelīmināris, formed from prae- (“before”) + līmen (“threshold”) + -āris (adjectival suffix); compare Latin līmināris (“of or belonging to a threshold”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: prĭlĭmʹĭnĕri, IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈlɪmɪnɛɹi/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: prĭlĭmʹĭnəri, IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈlɪmɪnəɹi/

Adjective

preliminary (not comparable)

1. In preparation for the main matter; initial, introductory, preparatory.

   Synonyms: initial, introductory, preparatory

   Antonyms: definitive, final

   These are just the preliminary results.

   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     And then, after a few preliminary tries, the whole farm burst out into 'Beasts of England' in tremendous unison.

Derived terms

• nonpreliminary
• postpreliminary
• preliminarily
• preliminary considerations
• preliminary examination
• preliminary injunction
• preliminary results
• preliminary ruling

 

Translations

in preparation for the main matter

• Catalan: preliminar
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 初步 (zh) (chūbù), 預備 (zh), 预备 (zh) (yùbèi)

• Czech: předběžný (cs) m
• Dutch: voorbereidend (nl)
• Finnish: alustava (fi), preliminaarinen, esi- (fi)
• French: préliminaire (fr)
• German: vorläufig (de), vorbereitend (de)
• Hungarian: előzetes (hu)
• Italian: preliminare (it)
• Japanese: 予備的 (よびてき, yobiteki)

• Korean: 예비의 (yebiui)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: preliminær, foreløpig (no)

  Nynorsk: preliminær, foreløpig

• Polish: wstępny (pl) m
• Portuguese: preliminar (pt)
• Romanian: introductiv (ro) m or n, preliminar (ro) m or n, pregătitor (ro) m or n
• Russian: предвари́тельный (ru) (predvarítelʹnyj), подготови́тельный (ru) (podgotovítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: preliminar (es)
• Swedish: preliminär (sv)
• Turkish: geçici (tr), ilk (tr), ön (tr), öncü (tr)

Noun

preliminary (plural preliminaries)

1. A preparation for a main matter; an introduction
2. Any of a series of sports events that determine the finalists
3. A relatively minor contest that precedes a major one, especially in boxing

Translations

introduction

• Finnish: johdatus (fi); johdanto (fi)

any of a series of sports

• Finnish: karsinta (fi), karsintaottelu

• Japanese: 予選 (ja) (よせん, yosen)

minor contest before major one

• Finnish: lämmittelyottelu