presentation

American  

[prez-uhn-tey-shuhn, pree-zen-] / ˌprɛz ənˈteɪ ʃən, ˌpri zɛn- /

noun

1. an act of presenting.

2. the state of being presented.

3. a social introduction, as of a person at court.

4. an exhibition or performance, as of a play or film.

5. offering, delivering, or bestowal, as of a gift.

6. a gift.

7. a demonstration, lecture, or welcoming speech.

8. a manner or style of speaking, instructing, or putting oneself forward.

   His presentation was very poor.

9. Commerce. the presentment of a bill, note, or the like.

10. Obstetrics.

    1. the position of the fetus in the uterus during labor.

    2. the appearance of a particular part of the fetus at the cervix during labor.

       a breech presentation.

11. Ecclesiastical. the act or the right of presenting a member of the clergy to the bishop for institution to a benefice.

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presentation British  

/ ˌprɛzənˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of presenting or state of being presented

2. the manner of presenting, esp the organization of visual details to create an overall impression

   the presentation of the project is excellent but the content poor

3. the method of presenting

   his presentation of the facts was muddled

4. a verbal report presented with illustrative material, such as slides, graphs, etc

   a presentation on the company results

5. 1. an offering or bestowal, as of a gift

   2. ( as modifier )

      a presentation copy of a book

6. a performance or representation, as of a play

7. the formal introduction of a person, as into society or at court; debut

8. the act or right of nominating a clergyman to a benefice

9. med the position of a baby relative to the birth canal at the time of birth

10. commerce another word for presentment

11. television linking material between programmes, such as announcements, trailers, or weather reports

12. an archaic word for gift

13. philosophy a sense datum

14. (often capital) another name for (feast of) Candlemas

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Other Word Forms

• nonpresentation noun
• presentational adjective
• self-presentation noun

Etymology

Origin of presentation

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin praesentātiōn-, stem of praesentātiō “exhibition, showing, nomination to a benefice, religious dedication”; equivalent to present ² + -ation

Example Sentences

In video presentation late Tuesday, CEO Gary Friedman highlighted tariffs, global discord amid the Iran war and “the most dire housing market in decades” as creating an environment of heightened uncertainty.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

"We design the keynotes so that the big reveal of the product happens around 40 minutes into the presentation," Forstall said.

From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026

Brockman saw within the presentation the seed of a fundraising idea: OpenAI could sell artificial general intelligence to governments.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

The BBC has also found that the presentation of the likelihood of these side effects differs widely between manufacturers' drug leaflets.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

Each group was assigned a place in the world and then had to give a presentation like we were tour guides.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

Related Words

• appearance
• delivery
• demonstration
• display
• introduction
• offering
• production
• proposal
• reception
• show
• submission