| a. | 1. | Introductory; previous; preceding the main discourse or business; prefatory; |
| n. | 1. | That which precedes the main discourse, work, design, or business; something introductory or preparatory; |
| Noun | 1. | preliminary - a minor match preceding the main event Synonyms: prelim |
| 2. | preliminary - something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows; "training is a necessary preliminary to employment"; "drinks were the overture to dinner" | |
| Adj. | 1. | preliminary - designed to orient or acquaint with a situation before proceeding; "a preliminary investigation" |
PRELIMINARY. Something which precedes, as preliminaries of peace, which are the first sketch of a treaty, and contain the principal articles on which both parties are desirous of concluding, and which are to serve as the basis of the treaty.
advance, advanced, antecedent, anterior, arrangement, avant-garde, avant-propos, basic training, beginning, breakthrough, briefing, chief, clearing the decks, coming out, curtain raiser, debut, embarkation, embarkment, equipment, exordial, exordium, exploratory, familiarization, first, first appearance, fixing, floating, flotation, foremost, forerunning, foreword, foundation, front matter, frontispiece, groundwork, headmost, inaugural, inaugural address, inauguration, induction, initial, initiation, initiatory, innovation, installation, installment, introduction, launching, leading, leap, maiden speech, makeready, making ready, manufacture, mobilization, opener, opening, original, overture, planning, postulate, preamble, prearrangement, precedence, precedent, preceding, precessional, precursory, preface, prefatory, prefix, prefixed, prefixture, preliminaries, preliminary act, preliminary step, preludial, prelusive, premise, premonitory, prep, preparation, preparatory study, preparing, prepositive, prepping, prerequisite, presupposition, pretreatment, prevenient, prior, processing, prodromal, prodrome, prodromic, proem, proemial, prolegomena, prolegomenon, prolepsis, prologue, propaedeutic, protasis, provision, readying, spadework, training, treatment, trial, tryout, unveiling, verse, voluntary, warm-up