prepare

See also:prépare,préparé,andpreparé

English

Etymology

Partially aback-formationfrompreparation;and partially borrowed fromMiddle Frenchpreparer,from ClassicalLatinpraeparāre(“make ready in advance”),fromprae-(“pre-”)+parāre(“make ready”).CompareMiddle Englishpreparaten(“to prepare”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/pɹɪˈpɛə/,/pɹɪˈpɛː/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/pɹɪˈpɛ(ə)ɹ/,/pɹəˈpɛ(ə)ɹ/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛə(ɹ)

Verb

prepare(third-person singular simple presentprepares,present participlepreparing,simple past and past participleprepared)

1. (transitive)To makereadyfor aspecificfuture purpose; toset up;toassembleorequip;to forearm.

   Wepreparedthe spacecraft for takeoff.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible,[…](King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker,[…],→OCLC,Psalms107:36:

     that they maypreparea city for habitation

   • 1700,[John] Dryden,“The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”,inFables Ancient and Modern;[…],London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC:

     our souls, not yetpreparedfor upper light

2. (transitive)To make ready for eating or drinking; tocook.

   Weprepareda fish for dinner.

3. (intransitive)To makeoneselfready; to get ready, make preparation.

   Wepreparedfor a bumpy ride.

   • 1963,Margery Allingham,chapter 19, inThe China Governess: A Mystery,London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC:

     As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion,preparedto give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.

   • 2023April 10, “Taiwan's frontline islanders resigned in face of Chinese military might”, inFrance 24‎^[1],archived fromthe originalon2023-04-10‎^[2]:

     Tourists visited a memorial hall adorned by a slogan in the handwriting of Chiang Kai-shek, Taiwan's divisive former nationalist leader: "Stay alert andpreparefor battle. "

4. (transitive)To produce or make by combining elements; tosynthesize,compound.

   Sheprepareda meal from what was left in the cupboards.

Usage notes

• This is acatenative verbthat can take a following verb in itsto +infinitiveform. SeeAppendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• busk(obsolete),graith(obsolete),ready,yark(obsolete)
• (To make oneself ready):get ready

Derived terms

• failure to prepare is preparing to fail
• foreprepare
• fore-prepare
• if you want peace, prepare for war
• prepare ahead
• prepare the ground
• prepare the way
• prepare up
• pre-prepare
• unprepare

Related terms

• preparation
• preparatory

Translations

to make ready for a specific future purpose

• Albanian:përgatis
• Arabic:جَهَّزَ(jahhaza),حَضَّرَ(ḥaḍḍara),أَعَدَّ(ʔaʕadda)

  Egyptian Arabic:جهز(gahhiz),حضر(ḥaḍḍar)

  Moroccan Arabic:وْجّد(wajjad)

• Armenian:պատրաստել(hy)(patrastel)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:ܗܲܕܸܪ(hādir)
• Azerbaijani:hazırlamaq(az)
• Basque:prestatu,atondu,gertatu
• Belarusian:гатава́цьimpf(hatavácʹ),прыгатава́цьpf(pryhatavácʹ),рыхтава́цьimpf(ryxtavácʹ),падрыхтава́цьpf(padryxtavácʹ)
• Bulgarian:подго́твям(bg)(podgótvjam)
• Burmese:ပြင်(my)(prang),ကိုင်(my)(kuing),ရင်(my)(rang),စီစဉ်(my)(cicany)
• Catalan:preparar(ca)
• Cebuano:andam
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Chuẩn bị／Chuẩn bị(zh)(zhǔnbèi)

• Czech:připravit(cs)pf,chystat(cs)impf
• Danish:berede
• Dutch:voorbereiden(nl),prepareren(nl),klaarmaken(nl)
• Esperanto:prepari
• Estonian:valmistada,valmistama
• Finnish:valmistella(fi),varustaa(fi),laittaavalmiiksi
• French:préparer(fr)
• Galician:preparar(gl)
• Georgian:მომზადება(momzadeba)
• German:vorbereiten(de),präparieren(de)
• Gothic:𐌼𐌰𐌽𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽(manwjan)
• Greek:προετοιμάζω(el)(proetoimázo),ετοιμάζω(el)(etoimázo)

  Ancient:σκευάζω(skeuázō)

• Haitian Creole:prepare
• Hebrew:הכין(hekhín)
• Hiligaynon:handa,aman
• Hindi:तैयार करना(hi)(taiyār karnā)
• Hungarian:előkészít(hu),elkészít(hu)
• Icelandic:undirbúa(is)
• Ilocano:agsagana
• Irish:ullmhaigh,réitigh,deasaigh
• Istriot:parparà
• Italian:preparare(it)
• Japanese:Chuẩn bị する(ja)(じゅんびする, jumbi suru)
• Kazakh:дайындау(daiyndau),әзірлеу(äzırleu),даярлау(daärlau)
• Khmer:រៀប(km)(riəp),សំរួច(sɑmruəc)
• Korean:준비하다(ko)(junbihada),마견하다(magyeonhada)
• Kyrgyz:даярдоо(ky)(dayardoo)
• Lao:ກຽມ(kīam),ຄາດ(lo)(khāt)
• Latgalian:gatavēt,rūst,taiseit
• Latin:parō(la)
• Latvian:gatavot,taisīt
• Lithuanian:ruošti
• Lombard:preparà
• Macedonian:подготвуваimpf(podgotvuva),подготвиpf(podgotvi)
• Malay:sediakan,mempersiapkan,mempersediakan
• Maori:whakareri
• Mari

  Eastern:ышташ(yštaš)

• Middle English:forgreithen
• Mongolian:бэлтгэх(mn)(beltgex)
• Ngazidja Comorian:upanga
• Northern Sami:gárvvistit
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:forberede

  Nynorsk:førebu

• Old English:æfnan
• Old French:aprester
• Oromo:qopphaa'uu
• Persian:آماده کردن(phát)(âmâde kardan),تیار کردن(tayyâr kardan),آمودن(phát)
• Polish:przygotować(pl)pf,przygotowywać(pl)impf
• Portuguese:preparar(pt)
• Quechua:allichay(qu)
• Romanian:prepara(ro),pregăti(ro)
• Russian:гото́вить(ru)impf(gotóvitʹ),подгото́вить(ru)pf(podgotóvitʹ),пригото́вить(ru)pf(prigotóvitʹ),подгота́вливать(ru)impf(podgotávlivatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:припре́митиpf,прѝправитиpf

  Roman:priprémiti(sh)pf,prìpraviti(sh)pf

• Slovak:pripravovaťimpf,pripraviťpf
• Slovene:pripravljatiimpf,pripraviti(sl)pf
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian:pśigótowaśimpforpf

• Spanish:preparar(es)
• Swahili:andaa(sw)
• Swedish:förbereda(sv)
• Tagalog:maghanda,ihanda
• Tajik:тайёр кардан(tg)(tayyor kardan),омода кардан(omoda kardan)
• Thai:เตรียม(th)(dtriiam),จัด(th)(jàt),แต่ง(th)(dtɛ̀ng)
• Turkish:hazırlamak(tr)
• Turkmen:taýýarlamak
• Ukrainian:готува́тиimpf(hotuváty),підготува́тиpf(pidhotuváty),приготува́тиpf(pryhotuváty),гото́витиimpf(hotóvyty),рихтува́тиimpf(ryxtuváty)
• Urdu:تیار کرنا(taiyār karnā)
• Uzbek:tayyorlamoq(uz),hozirlamoq(uz)
• Vietnamese:chuẩn bị(vi)
• Walloon:aprester(wa),apontyî(wa)
• Zhuang:please add this translation if you can

to make ready for eating or drinking

• Arabic:

  Moroccan Arabic:وجد(wajjad)

• Armenian:պատրաստել(hy)(patrastel)
• Bulgarian:приго́твям(bg)(prigótvjam),готвя(bg)(gotvja)
• Catalan:preparar(ca),fer(ca)
• Czech:připravit(cs)
• Danish:tilberede
• Esperanto:pretigi
• Finnish:valmistaa(fi),tehdä(fi),kokata(fi),laittaa(fi)
• French:préparer(fr),apprêter(fr)
• German:zubereiten(de),vorbereiten(de)
• Greek:

  Ancient:σκευάζω(skeuázō)

• Hebrew:הֵכִין(hechín)
• Irish:deasaigh
• Italian:preparare(it)
• Khmer:ហុង(km)(hoŋ),បោប(km)(baop)
• Latvian:gatavot
• Maori:taute(of food for cooking),taka,whakataka,pihe(refers only to food)
• Ngazidja Comorian:upiha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:tilberede

• Persian:پختن(phát)
• Portuguese:preparar(pt),fazer(pt)
• Quechua:wakichiy
• Russian:гото́вить(ru)impf(gotóvitʹ),пригото́вить(ru)pf(prigotóvitʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman:priprémiti(sh)pf,prìpraviti(sh)pf,priréditi(sh)pf

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian:pśigótowaśimpforpf

• Spanish:preparar(es),hacer(es)
• Swahili:kuandaa(sw),≈ (sth) for (sb)kuandalia
• Swedish:förbereda(sv)
• Turkish:sofra kurmak(tr),hazırlamak(tr)
• Walloon:aprester(wa),apontyî(wa)

to make oneself ready

• Arabic:اِسْتَعَدَّ(istaʕadda),تَأَهَّبَ(taʔahhaba)

  Moroccan Arabic:وجد راسه(wajjad rāsu)

• Armenian:պատրաստվել(hy)(patrastvel)
• Azerbaijani:hazırlaşmaq(az)
• Belarusian:гатава́ццаimpf(hatavácca),прыгатава́ццаpf(pryhatavácca),рыхтава́ццаimpf(ryxtavácca),падрыхтава́ццаpf(padryxtavácca)
• Bulgarian:подго́твям се(bg)impf(podgótvjam se)
• Catalan:preparar-se
• Cherokee:ᎠᏛᏅᎢᏍᏗᎭ(advnvisdiha)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Chuẩn bị／Chuẩn bị(zh)(zhǔnbèi)

• Czech:připravit se(cs)
• Esperanto:prepariĝi
• Finnish:valmistautua(fi),varautua(fi),varustautua(fi)
• French:se préparer(fr)
• German:sich vorbereiten(de)
• Guaraní:ñembosako'i
• Hebrew:התכונן(hitkonén)
• Hungarian:felkészül(hu),készül(hu),előkészül(hu)
• Irish:ullmhaigh,stócáil
• Italian:prepararsi(it)
• Japanese:Chuẩn bị する(ja)(じゅんびする, junbi suru)
• Khmer:បម្រុង(km)(bɑmroŋ)
• Korean:준비하다(ko)(junbihada)
• Latin:paror(la)
• Latvian:gatavoties
• Middle English:dressen
• Ngazidja Comorian:udjihuɗumu
• Persian:آمادن
• Polish:przygotowywać się(pl)impf,przygotować się(pl)pf
• Portuguese:preparar-se
• Romanian:pregăti(ro),prepara(ro)
• Russian:гото́виться(ru)impf(gotóvitʹsja),подгото́виться(ru)pf(podgotóvitʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman:priprémiti se(sh)pf,sprémiti se(sh)pf

• Slovak:pripravovať saimpf,pripraviť sapf
• Spanish:prepararse
• Swahili:andaa(sw)
• Swedish:förbereda(sv)sig
• Turkish:hazırlanmak(tr)
• Ukrainian:готува́тисяimpf(hotuvátysja),гото́витисяimpf(hotóvytysja),підготува́тисяpf(pidhotuvátysja),приготува́тисяpf(pryhotuvátysja),рихтува́тисяimpf(ryxtuvátysja)
• Walloon:s' aprester(wa),s' apontyî(wa)

to produce by combining elements

• Czech:připravit(cs)
• Dutch:voorbereiden(nl)
• Finnish:valmistaa(fi),tehdä(fi),laittaa(fi)
• French:préparer(fr),combiner(fr)
• Khmer:ស្លុក(km)(slok),ចំអិន(cɑm’ən)
• Latvian:gatavot
• Persian:ساختن(phát)
• Swahili:andaa(sw)
• Swedish:förbereda(sv)
• Walloon:aprester(wa),apontyî(wa)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Norman:^{(pleaseverify)}graie(Jersey)
• Scottish Gaelic:^{(pleaseverify)}ullaich

Noun

prepare

1. (obsolete)preparation
   • c.1591–1592(date written),William Shakespeare,“The Third Part of Henry the Sixt,[…]”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene i],line130:

     Go levy men, and makepreparefor war;

Anagrams

• paperer,repaper

Galician

Verb

prepare

1. inflection ofpreparar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative

Haitian Creole

Etymology

FromFrenchpréparer(“prepare”),fromLatinpraeparāre(“make ready in advance”),fromprae-(“pre-”)+parāre(“make ready”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/pɣepaɣe/

Verb

prepare

1. prepare

Portuguese

Verb

prepare

1. inflection ofpreparar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):[preˈpare]

Verb

prepare

1. third-personsingular/pluralpresentsubjunctiveofprepara

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/pɾeˈpaɾe/[pɾeˈpa.ɾe]
• Rhymes:-aɾe
• Syllabification:pre‧pa‧re

Verb

prepare

1. inflection ofpreparar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative