Etymologically
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praeliminaris

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯.liː.mɪˈnaː.rɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pre.li.miˈnaː.ris][1]

Forms

praelīmināris (neuter praelīmināre); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + līmināris (“of the threshold”),[2][3] that is, “before the threshold”, from līmen (“threshold”).[4][3] Conte and Etymonline call it a Medieval Latin word,[5][4] Wiktionary a New Latin one.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Polish humanist Latin of the early 16th century it qualifies an introductory page or letter; a letter of 1527 speaks of a praeliminaris epistola.[2]

Semantic evolution

According to Etymonline the word arose in the long diplomatic negotiations that ended the Thirty Years' War.[4] French préliminaire, English preliminary, German präliminär, Italian preliminare, Spanish and Portuguese preliminar all come from it.[1][5] English has preliminaries from the 1650s and the adjective from the 1660s.[4]

Timeline

  • 1527 – A letter speaks of a praeliminaris epistola.[2]
  • 1650s – English has preliminaries, things that lead up to what follows.[4]
  • 1660s – English has the adjective preliminary, from French and directly from Latin.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Placed at the beginning, introductory.[2]
  2. (New Latin) Preliminary, leading up to the main business.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier