adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Something to be done in preparation; a preliminary

   "necessary preparatives for our voyage"

Adjective

1. 1
   That serves to prepare something

   "preparative chromatography"

2. 2
   preliminary or preparatory

   "preparative discussions"

3. 3
   Pertaining to the synthesis, purification, or isolation of compounds from mixtures or raw materials.

Adjective

1. 1
   preceding and preparing for something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

inductiveintroductoryprecedingpreludialpreparatoryprerequisite

Example

More examples

"necessary preparatives for our voyage"

Etymology

From Middle English preperatif, from Middle French preparatif and Medieval Latin prēparātīvus.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.