preparator

American  

[pri-par-uh-ter, -pair-] / prɪˈpær ə tər, -ˈpɛər- /

noun

1. a person who prepares a specimen, as an animal, for scientific examination or exhibition.

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Etymology

Origin of preparator

1755–65; < Late Latin praeparātor preparer, equivalent to praeparā ( re ) to prepare + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

“A very fine product,” says senior art preparator Michael Price with a sly smile.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2025

Beneath it, Blasto Onyango, head preparator of the National Museums of Kenya, found a huge hominin molar.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 8, 2023

“It can be very addictive, seeing what you’re going to find,” said Erika Durazo, a senior preparator.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2022

“So that’s what killed the dinosaurs,” said Alec Madoff, a senior preparator at the museum who had wielded the saw that felled the dinosaur.

From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2016

This subject is more of interest to the museum preparator than the home taxidermist, but a short consideration of it is not out of place here.

From Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit A Guide for Those Who Wish to Prepare and Mount Animals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, etc., for Home, Den, or Office Decoration by Farnham, Albert B.