Preparatory

How to spell preparatory

11 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce preparatory

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does preparatory mean?

1. adjectiveServing to make ready or to prepare for something that follows.

Preparatory in a sentence

• The committee held a preparatory meeting before the formal negotiations began.

• Students must complete the preparatory reading before the first lecture.

Where does preparatory come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word goes back to the Latin verb praeparare, meaning 'to make ready beforehand', which was built from prae- meaning 'before' and parare meaning 'to make ready' or 'to prepare'. Late Latin formed the adjective praeparatorius to describe something that serves to get things ready in advance. English took the word in during the 1400s, partly reinforced by French forms, and used it for anything done as groundwork or in advance of a main event. The same parare root quietly powers a whole family of common words, including 'prepare', 'repair', 'apparatus', and even 'parade'. The spelling trap lives in the middle and end: the unstressed vowels in 'par-a-tory' slur into a schwa in speech, so writers often drop the middle 'a' or muddle the '-atory' ending, even though the root 'prepare' is right there to anchor it.

How the word is built

• pre- (before)
• par (from Latin parare: to make ready)
• -atory (adjective suffix indicating purpose)