Preparatory actions are done before doing something else as a form of preparation or as an introduction.
At least a year's preparatory work will be necessary before building can start.
...preparatory talks for this week's summit.
Synonyms: introductory, preliminary, opening, basic More Synonyms of preparatory
2.
See preparatory to doing sth
preparatory in British English
(prɪˈpærətərɪ, -trɪ)
adjective
1.
serving to prepare
2.
introductory or preliminary
3.
occupied in preparation
4. preparatory to
Derived forms
preparatorily (preˈparatorily)
adverb
preparatory in American English
(priˈpærəˌtɔri; prɪˈpærəˌtɔri; ˈprɛpərəˌtɔri)
adjective
1.
that prepares or serves to prepare; preliminary; introductory
2. US
undergoing preparation, esp. for college entrance
a preparatory student
Idioms:
preparatory to
Derived forms
preparatorily (preˈparaˌtorily)
adverb
Word origin
ME < ML praeparatorius
Examples of 'preparatory' in a sentence
preparatory
The group is considering opening further sites, including preparatory and international schools.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The heavily indebted Spanish company said that preparatory work had begun and that it expected to maintain a majority shareholding in O2.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But in the meantime preparatory work could begin.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Only a few preparatory drawings are thought to have survived.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
Its sophistication is superbly captured by preparatory drawings.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
But the preparatory drawings of individual members of the family remain.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Both were sent to preparatory schools.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The place where these two forces met was in the preparatory schools that the students attended for two years before going overseas.
Bachmann, Susan (editor) & Barth, Melinda Between Worlds: A Reader, Rhetoric and Handbook (1995)
Officials had already paid 16,000 to the artist and construction firms for preparatory work.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Probably the Easter holidays of his last year at his preparatory school.
Patrick O'Brian Richard Temple
My 10-year-old son attends a good preparatory school.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
But people change, especially once they leave a rather sheltered preparatory school and enter university.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They contacted the preparatory school 's headmaster last year to return a jacket sent by the teacher to their son as a present.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Some of them are preparatory drawings for bigger works, such as finished oil paintings that may be hanging in a museum somewhere.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Great difficulties ensued, since no preparatory work of any kind had been done either by the delegations of the countries or by the respective governments.
Bramwell, Anna C Refugees in the Age of Total War (1988)
This is the first show of the great sculptor's preparatory drawings to be staged in Britain.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Bankers expect the sale to begin in September or October because of the large amount of preparatory work.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
I have pointed to my own manuscript volumes, which represent the toil of years preparatory to a work not yet accomplished.
George Eliot Middlemarch (1872)
In other languages
preparatory
British English: preparatory ADJECTIVE
Preparatory actions are done before doing something else as a form of preparation or as an introduction.
At least a year's preparatory work will be necessary before building can start.
American English: preparatory
Brazilian Portuguese: preparatório
Chinese: 准备性的
European Spanish: preliminar
French: préparatoire
German: vorbereitend
Italian: preparatorio
Japanese: 準備の
Korean: 준비의
European Portuguese: preparatório
Latin American Spanish: preliminar
(adjective)
Definition
introductory
At least a year's preparatory work will be needed.
Synonyms
introductory
an introductory course in religion and theology
preliminary
Preliminary talks began yesterday.
opening
the season's opening game
basic
shortages of even the most basic foodstuffs
primary
elementary
Literacy now includes elementary computer skills.
prefatory
the prefatory remarks supplied by the editors
preparative
phrase
See preparatory to
Additional synonyms
in the sense of basic
Definition
of or forming a base or basis
shortages of even the most basic foodstuffs
Synonyms
vital,
needed,
important,
key,
necessary,
essential,
primary,
crucial (informal),
fundamental,
elementary,
indispensable,
requisite
in the sense of elementary
Definition
involving only the most basic principles of a subject