preliminary
/pɹɪˈlɪmɪn(ə)ɹi/US/pɹɪˈlɪmɪnɛɹi/
preliminary adjective: in preparation for the main matter; initial, introductory, preparatory.
Adjective
preliminary (not comparable)
- In preparation for the main matter; initial, introductory, preparatory.
- These are just the preliminary results.
- And then, after a few preliminary tries, the whole farm burst out into 'Beasts of England' in tremendous unison.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- initial, introductory, preparatory
- Antonyms:
- definitive, final
Noun
preliminary (plural preliminaries)
- A preparation for a main matter; an introduction.
- 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.1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6)
- Any of a series of sports events that determine the finalists.
- A relatively minor contest that precedes a major one, especially in boxing.
preliminary meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
preliminary in Tamil
- முதல்நிலை, தொடக்கநிலை, முன்னோட்டமான, ஆரம்ப
preliminary in Urdu
- آزمائشی, افتتاحی
preliminary in Bengali
- ভূমিকা, প্রারম্ভিক অংশ, প্রবেশিকা পরীক্ষা, প্রারম্ভিক পৃষ্ঠাসমূহ, প্রারম্ভিক, প্রস্তুতিমূলক
preliminary in Telugu
- ప్రిలిమినరీ
More languagesFewer languages
- preliminary in Malayalam
- പ്രാരംഭകമായ, പ്രാഥമികമായ, മുഖവുരയായ, ആമുഖമായ
- preliminary in Kannada
- ಪೂರ್ವಸಿದ್ಧತೆ, ಪೂರ್ವಸನ್ನಾಹ, ಪೂರ್ವಭಾವಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳು, ಉಪಕ್ರಮಣಿಕೆ
- preliminary in Sanskrit
- पूर्वपदप्रधान pūrvapadapradhāna
Examples of preliminary in a sentence
- The Zurich group has shared a preliminary writeup of its findings.2025 April 28, Kate Travis, “Experiment using AI-generated posts on Reddit draws fire for ethics concerns”, in Retraction Watch, archived...
- The email directed leaders at ICE’s field offices to conduct preliminary fitness exams with new recruits before sending them to the academy.2025 October 20, Nick Miroff, “ICE’s ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 20 Oct 2025:
Synonyms of preliminary
Antonyms
Forms of preliminary
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form (archaic) | præliminary |
| Noun | |
| plural | preliminaries |
Origin of preliminary
Borrowed from New Latin praelīmināris, formed from prae- (“before”) + līmen (“threshold”) + -āris (adjectival suffix); compare Latin līmināris (“of or belonging to a threshold”). Compare French préliminaire.
Words formed from preliminary
- nonpreliminary
- postpreliminary
- preliminarily
- preliminary considerations
- preliminary examination
- preliminary injunction
- preliminary results
- preliminary ruling
Phrases with preliminary
Questions about preliminary
- What does preliminary mean?
- Preliminary means in preparation for the main matter; initial, introductory, preparatory.
- What is preliminary in Tamil?
- Preliminary in Tamil is முதல்நிலை, தொடக்கநிலை, முன்னோட்டமான. See Preliminary meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use preliminary in a sentence?
- The Zurich group has shared a preliminary writeup of its findings.
- What part of speech is preliminary?
- Preliminary can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce preliminary?
- Preliminary is pronounced /pɹɪˈlɪmɪn(ə)ɹi/ (UK).
Words near preliminary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: preliminary (page history and authors); preliminary (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preliminary (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preliminary (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preliminary (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); preliminary (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preliminary (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); पूर्वपदप्रधान (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preliminary.wav.
Cite this entry: “preliminary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/preliminary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.