preliminarily
/pɹɪˌlɪməˈneɹɪli/prih-lih-muh-NEH-rih-lee
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/pɹɪˌlɪməˈnɛɹɪli/prih-lih-muh-NEH-rih-lee
Meaningin a preliminary way
Common meaning: as a first step
Tap a word part to explore
- prebefore
- limina thresholdLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1066 · scan
- ariending: linked with, or a place for
- lyadverb ending: in a way
‘before’ + ‘a threshold’ → preliminarily
Journey through time
- Latinlīmen, -inis‘a threshold’
- Frenchliminaire
- Englishpreliminary‘coming before the main part’
- Englishformed in English from preliminarypreliminarily‘as a first step’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from preliminary + -ly.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PRELIMINARY, p.464 · scan
Roots
- līmen, -inis Latin “a threshold”
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