Etymologically
Log in

preliminary

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pɹɪˈlɪmɪn(ə)ɹi/, /pɹɪˈlɪmɪnɛɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French préliminaire and directly New Latin praeliminaris,[2][3][4] from prae (“before”) and limen (“threshold”) (genitive liminis) (see limit).[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a step or measure preceding something more important: 1656 in the OED and MWU;[7][5] Etymonline says the earliest form in English is preliminaries, things that introduce what follows (1650s).[3] The adjective is from before 1667, in Jeremy Taylor's sermons.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the word arose in reference to the painstaking diplomatic negotiations to end the Thirty Years' War.[3] A preliminary examination is from 1882,[7] and the preliminary matter of a book, the prelims, from 1888.[7] Addison used French préliminaire in The Tatler (1709).[2] A preliminary round of a sporting contest is a later use.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 1650s – preliminaries.[3]
  • 1656 – a preliminary step (noun).[7]
  • before 1667 – the adjective.[2]
  • 1882 – a preliminary examination.[7]
  • 1888 – a book's prelims.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Coming before and preparing for the main part; introductory.

Noun

  1. A preliminary action or event.
  2. (preliminaries) The pages before the main text of a book.
  3. A preliminary round in a competition.

Word family

  • preliminarily

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins