prepared

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of prepare.

   The committee prepared its report well before the deadline.

   All the documents had been prepared and signed by noon.

   Note

   One spelling covers three constructions: the simple past (they prepared dinner), the perfect after have (had prepared), and the passive after be (was prepared). Only the transitive uses can go passive, as when a meal, a report or a compound is prepared. The intransitive "get ready" use stays active: she had prepared for weeks. Keep it apart from the adjective of willingness, which takes to and a verb.

2. 2
   adjective

   Disposed, willing, and ready to do something when the moment requires it.

   He was prepared to defend his decision in front of the entire board.

   The volunteers stood ready and prepared to help at a moment's notice.

   Similarready, willing, disposed, inclined, poised

   Oppositeunwilling, reluctant, disinclined, unprepared

   Note

   Here the participle has settled into an adjective of willingness, built from prepare plus -ed and followed by to and a verb. Unlike the plain past form of prepare, it grades: more prepared, most prepared. In the negative it becomes a measured refusal. An eye-witness not prepared to disclose his identity is unwilling to give it, not unready to.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2