| 单词 |
preliminary |
| 释义 |
preliminary, n. and a. (adv.)|prɪˈlɪmɪnərɪ|
Also 7 præ-.
[ad. F. préliminaire or mod.L. prælīmināris (both used in Treaties of Westphalia, 1648), f. L. præ before + līmen, -in-, threshold; cf. L. līmināris of or belonging to a threshold. The L. prælīmināris was prob. in earlier use.]
A. n.
a. A subordinate step, measure, statement, etc., that precedes another to which it is introductory or preparatory. Chiefly in pl. = preparatory measures or arrangements.
1656Cromwell Lett. 6 May in Carlyle, There were some preliminaries to be performed by him before we could enter upon the whole body of a treaty. 1661Glanvill Van. Dogm. Pref. B j b, Sensible of the tædium of long præliminaries. 1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 24 The lords were taken up in adjusting the preliminaries for the lord Mohuns tryall. 1762Symmer in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. IV. 449 This is not the Ratification of Preliminaries simply as such, but indeed of the Treaty of Peace. 1792Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 3 The petition to the king I hold an essential preliminary. 1857Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 19 The general manager..will arrange all the preliminaries for me. 1885Law Times LXXIX. 159/1 The value of systematic teaching as a preliminary to professional work.
b. (ellipt. use of adj.) Preliminary examination.
1882Edna Lyall Donovan xxiv, He passed his preliminary successfully.
c. Usu. in pl. The preliminary matter of a book. Cf. prelim b.
1888C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 103 Preliminary, any matter coming before the main text of a work—title, preface, contents, etc. 1903A. E. Housman Let. 12 Feb. (1971) 64, I don't quite know the meaning of ‘the preliminary’, but I enclose the dedication which is to follow the title page. 1977N. & Q. for Somerset & Dorset Sept. 301 The list of abbreviations on p. 70 would have been more usefully placed in the preliminaries.
B. adj. Preceding and leading up to the main subject or business; introductory; preparatory.
a1667Jer. Taylor Serm. Jas. ii. 24 Wks. 1831 III. 307, I shall premise some preliminary considerations, to prepare the way of holiness. 1709Addison Tatler No. 20 ⁋8 The Articles Preliminary to a general Peace were settled. 1759Robertson Hist. Scotl. iii. Wks. 1813 I. 241 After these preliminary steps, Mary ventured to call a meeting of Parliament. 1828D'Israeli Chas. I, I. iv. 89 The restoration of the Palatinate was insisted on as a preliminary article of the treaty. 1890A. R. Wallace Darwinism 1 It is for want of this preliminary knowledge.
C. as adv. = preliminarily.
1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. 329 But that you had preliminary bound me under a solemn vow. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 438/1 [He] gathered the leashed hounds about him preliminary to a start.
Hence preˈliminarize v., trans. to put forward as a preliminary.
1844Tupper Crock of Gold xiii, Let us preliminarize a thought or two. |
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