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preliminary

Syllabification: (pre·lim·i·nar·y)
Pronunciation: /priˈliməˌnerē/
Translate preliminary | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of preliminary

adjective

  • denoting an action or event preceding or done in preparation for something fuller or more important:preliminary talks the discussions were seen as preliminary to the policy paper

noun (plural preliminaries)

  • an action or event preceding or preparing for something fuller or more important:the bombardment was resumed as a preliminary to an infantry attack
  • (preliminaries) business or talk, especially of a formulaic or polite nature, taking place before an action or event:she began speaking, without preliminaries
  • a preliminary round in a sporting competition.
  • (preliminaries)fuller form of prelims (see prelim (sense 2)).

Phrases

preliminary to

preparatory to; in advance of.

Derivatives

preliminarily

Pronunciation: /-ˌliməˈnerəlē/
adverb

Origin:

mid 17th century: from modern Latin praeliminaris or French préliminaire, from Latin prae 'before' + limen, limin- 'threshold'

preliminary in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of preliminary in the British & World English dictionary
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