preparatory

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English preparatori,^[2] borrowed from Latin praeparātōrius (“that serves to prepare”),^[3][4][5][6] from praeparātus, the past participle of praeparō (“to make ready beforehand”),^[2][4][6] with the suffix -ōrius.^[3][4] Etymonline, Merriam-Webster, Klein and the Oxford Dictionary of English call the Latin adjective Late Latin,^[2][4][6][5] and Dictionary.com Medieval Latin,^[7] while the revised OED records it in classical Latin legal texts of the 2nd century AD.^[3] The noun is partly from preparatorium (“a preparatory agent; a preliminary”), recorded in British sources from about 1200, and partly from the adjective.^[3] The OED compares Anglo-Norman preparatoirs (“preliminary negotiations”), French préparatoire, recorded as an adjective in Old French in 1322, and Italian preparatorio.^[3] The verb prepare comes from the same Latin verb.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, in the plural, the parts of the body in which a preparatory process of digestion or the like takes place: perhaps before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie; this sense is now obsolete.^[3] The adjective, preparing for something that follows, is recorded from 1442.^[3] Etymonline dates the adjective to the early 15th century, and notes that preparative was used in the same sense from about 1400.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The general adjectival sense, serving to prepare the way for something, has stayed the main one since the 15th century.^[3][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "antecedently necessary" and "introductory; previous".^[8] The noun was used from 1577 for a preliminary act or step, and in medicine from 1676 to 1756 for a preparative dose.^[3] In the United Kingdom the adjective came to describe a junior school in which pupils are prepared for a higher one: the OED's first record is perhaps from 1649, in John Dury's Reformed School, and Etymonline dates the use by 1822.^[3][2] In the United States it was applied from 1858 to a student at such a school, and as a noun to the student from 1873 and to the school itself from 1904; the clipped prep and prep school came later.^[3] The adverbial use with to, "as a preliminary to", is recorded from before 1684, in John Evelyn's diary.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – noun, in the plural, organs in which a preparatory bodily process takes place (obsolete).^[3]
• 1442 – adjective, preparing for something that follows; preliminary.^[3]
• 1577 – noun, a preliminary act or step.^[3]
• c. 1649 – of a junior school preparing pupils for a higher one, in the United Kingdom.^[3]
• 1676 – noun, in medicine, a preparative (obsolete after 1756).^[3]
• before 1684 – adverb, preparatory to, as a preliminary to.^[3]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as "antecedently necessary" and "introductory".^[8]
• 1858 – in the United States, of a student at a preparatory school.^[3]
• 1904 – noun, a preparatory school.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Serving to prepare for something; preliminary or introductory: The committee held a preparatory meeting before the vote.^[9][4][3]
2. Of a school, especially a private one in Britain: preparing young pupils for a higher school.^[3][10]
3. Occupied in preparing.^[9]

Adverb

1. preparatory to: as a preparation for; before: She tidied her desk preparatory to leaving.^[9][4][3]

Noun

1. A preliminary act or step; a preparative.^[3][4]
2. A preparatory school.^[3]

Word family

• preparatorily
• nonpreparatory

Related words

• prepare
• preparation
• preparative
• prep school
• prep

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press