precondition

[pree-kuh n-dish-uh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR precondition ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

something that must come before or is necessary to a subsequent result; condition: a precondition for a promotion.

verb (used with object)

to subject (a person or thing) to a special treatment in preparation for a subsequent experience, process, test, etc.: to precondition a surface to receive paint.

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Nearby words

Origin of precondition

First recorded in 1910–15; pre- + condition

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for precondition

Her release was a precondition to signing the EU Association Agreement.
Putin’s Power Grab: First Armenia, Now Ukraine|Will Cathcart|December 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But what I am saying is that for me, at least, feeling loved and wanted by somebody was a precondition to health.
I Was Adam Lanza|David Frum|December 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He fell short of making this a precondition for talks, a requirement that had scuttled earlier attempts at negotiation.
Iran Asserts Right to Enrichment as Baghdad Six Party Talks End|Michael Adler|May 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
This, gal pals across America might note, was a precondition before she agreed to pick up and move to Silicon Valley.
Rules for New Husband Mark Zuckerberg to Live By|Lauren Ashburn|May 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Willingness to refinance should have been a precondition of TARP aid back in 2008 and 2009.
Obama is Right, We Need Mortgage Refinancing|David Frum|January 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The precondition of every true calling must be, not love for art, but love for mankind.
Romain Rolland|Stefan Zweig
Even biologically, two individuals of the higher animal species are the precondition to a new individual existence.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology|Robert E. Park
The precondition of thought as of life is that nature be uniform, or ultimately that the world be rational.
Studies in Logical Theory|John Dewey
The value of the money is a precondition of the money-function.
The Value of Money|Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.
Such trust is a precondition to the existence of a thriving, modern economy.
After the Rain|Sam Vaknin

British Dictionary definitions for precondition

precondition

noun

a necessary or required condition; prerequisite

verb

(tr) psychol to present successively two stimuli to (an organism) without reinforcement so that they become associated; if a response is then conditioned to the second stimulus on its own, the same response will be evoked by the first stimulus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for precondition

precondition

1825, from pre- + condition (n.). As a verb from 1841.