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/
Audio (UK) (file)
(Received Pronunciation) enPR: prĭlĭmʹĭnəri, IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈlɪmɪnəɹi/

Adjective

preliminary (not comparable)

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 […], 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

Azerbaijani: ilkin, ibtidai, ilk
Bulgarian: предварителен (bg) (predvaritelen), подготвителен (bg) (podgotvitelen)
Catalan: preliminar
Chinese:
Mandarin: 初步 (zh) (chūbù), 預備／预备 (zh) (yùbèi)
Czech: předběžný (cs) m
Dutch: voorbereidend (nl)
Finnish: alustava (fi), preliminaarinen, esi- (fi)
French: préliminaire (fr)
Galician: preliminar
Georgian: წინასწარი (c̣inasc̣ari)
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
Occitan: preliminar
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)

A preparation for a main matter; an introduction.
- 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6)‎:
  In the Chinese novels, often of a very literary character, devoted to masculine love, it seems that all the preliminaries and transports of normal love are to be found, while physical union may terminate the scene.
Any of a series of sports events that determine the finalists
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