DictionaryAI

prepare

Saypri-PAIR/pɹɪˈpɛ(ə)ɹ/UK/pɹɪˈpɛə/

Formsprepares, preparing, prepared

4 meanings of prepare

Practice

  1. 1
    get readyverbtransitive or intransitive
    To make someone or something ready for a particular purpose or event, or to get ready oneself.

    The crew prepared the stadium for the championship match.

    Engineers prepare backup systems in case the main power fails.

    UsagePrepare something for an event, or prepare for it yourself; prepare to + verb. Be prepared to often means be willing to.

    Note

    The core sense, and the one closest to the Latin praeparāre, "make ready in advance": prae- ("before") plus parāre ("make ready"). The "in advance" is still felt, because you prepare something for a purpose that has not yet arrived. The King James Bible of 1611 has people prepare a city for habitation, and Dryden's souls are "not yet prepared for upper light."

  2. 2
    cookverbtransitive
    To make food or drink ready for eating or drinking; to cook.

    The chef prepared a five-course meal for the banquet.

    Busy restaurants prepare meals to order all evening.

    Similarcook, make, fix

  3. 3
    make (chemistry)verbtransitive
    To make something, such as a chemical compound or a mixture, by combining its ingredients or components.

    Chemists prepared the compound by reacting the two reagents under heat.

    Pharmacists still prepare some ointments by blending a fine powder into a greasy base.

    Similarsynthesize, produce, make, formulate

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    nounobsolete
    Preparation; the act or state of being made ready for something.
    Go levy men, and make prepare for war;
    c. 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt,”
    Note

    A noun now gone from the language. In The Third Part of Henry the Sixt (c. 1591–1592), William Shakespeare writes "Go levy men, and make prepare for war," where make prepare works much like make ready. Today the same idea takes preparation, usually in the plural, as in make preparations for war. Use prepare as a noun only when quoting or deliberately echoing Elizabethan English.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Prepare historically existed as a noun meaning preparation. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Third Part of Henry the Sixt was probably written around 1591–1592. folgerpedia.folger.edu
    • Shakespeare's play contains the quotation; King Edward speaks it in Act IV, scene i. folger.edu

Practice

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Origin

'Prepare' arose partly as a back-formation from 'preparation' and partly from Middle French 'preparer', from Classical Latin 'praeparare' ('make ready in advance'), formed from 'prae-' (pre-) plus 'parare' ('make ready').

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  • Prepare arose partly by back-formation from preparation and partly by borrowing from Middle French preparer. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle French preparer derives from Classical Latin praeparare, meaning make ready in advance, formed from prae- and parare, meaning make ready. en.wiktionary.org