PRELIMINARY


Meaning of PRELIMINARY in English

■ adjective preceding or done in preparation for something fuller or more important.

■ noun ( plural preliminaries )

1》 a ~ action or event.

2》 a ~ round in a sporting competition.

3》 ( preliminaries ) the prelims of a book.

Phrases

~ to preparatory to; in advance of.

Derivatives

preliminarily adverb

Origin

C17: from mod. L. praeliminaris or Fr. préliminaire , from L. prae 'before' + limen , limin- 'threshold'.

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.