preparatory C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /prɪˈpɛrəˌtɔri/ UK /prɪˈpærətri/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj serving as or carried out in preparation for something He attended a preparatory school before university. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · serving as or carried out... preliminaryintroductorypreparativeprefatoryinitial ↔ Opposites concludingfinal Word family Related forms preparepreparationpreparative Etymology AI details From Late Latin praeparatorius, from Latin praeparare ('to prepare'), from prae- ('before') + parare ('to make ready'). praeparare Latin parare Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # preparatory **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /prɪˈpɛrəˌtɔri/ **IPA (UK):** /prɪˈpærətri/ ## Meanings 1. serving as or carried out in preparation for something ## Examples - He attended a preparatory school before university. ## Synonyms - preliminary - introductory - preparative - prefatory - initial ## Antonyms - concluding - final ## Related Forms - prepare - preparation - preparative ## Roots and Affixes - Root: praeparare - Root: parare ## Etymology From Late Latin praeparatorius, from Latin praeparare ('to prepare'), from prae- ('before') + parare ('to make ready'). ## AI Etymology Preparatory is from Late Latin praeparatorius, from Latin praeparare ('to prepare'), from prae- ('before') + parare ('to make ready'). Important recorded forms include praeparare (Latin) and parare (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers serving as or carried out in preparation for something. The wider family includes related words such as prepare, preparation, and preparative. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown