precondition

[ pree-kuhn-dish-uhn ]

noun

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

   a precondition for a promotion.

verb (used with object)

1. 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.

precondition

/ ˌpriːkənˈdɪʃən /

noun

1. a necessary or required condition; prerequisite

verb

1. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of precondition¹

First recorded in 1910–15; pre- + condition

Example Sentences

Rather than worrying about what Trump might do in office, they said, “a precondition for Trump to take European defence seriously is for Europe to take its own defence seriously.”

From BBC

The chief justice does not appear to worry about public faith in the court as a good in itself worth preserving, but as a precondition to achieving his agenda.

From Slate

He argued that the RSF should first evacuate its forces from civilian neighbourhoods - essentially demanding their withdrawal from the territories they had captured - as a precondition for talking.

From BBC

It turns out that his return to the White House was not a precondition for wrangling Gershkovich and others—including Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018—out of their Russian hellholes.

From Slate

He didn’t even demand a Taliban cease-fire as a precondition, as State Department specialists had urged.

From Slate

Related Words

• arrangement
• essential
• necessity
• prerequisite
• provision
• qualification
• requirement
• requisite
• stipulation