prepare

See also: prépare, préparé, and preparé

English

Etymology

Partially a back-formation from preparation; and partially borrowed from Middle French preparer, from Classical Latin praeparāre (“make ready in advance”), from prae- (“pre-”) + parāre (“make ready”). Compare Middle English preparaten (“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 present prepares, present participle preparing, simple past and past participle prepared)

1. (transitive) To make ready for a specific future purpose; to set up; to assemble or equip; to forearm.

   We prepared the spacecraft for takeoff.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 107:36:

     that they may prepare a city for habitation

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

     our souls, not yet prepared for upper light

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

   We prepared a fish for dinner.

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

   We prepared for a bumpy ride.

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

     As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to 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.

   • 2023 April 10, “Taiwan's frontline islanders resigned in face of Chinese military might”, in France 24‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-04-10‎^[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 and prepare for battle."

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

   She prepared a meal from what was left in the cupboards.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that can take a following verb in its to + infinitive form. See Appendix: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: гатава́ць impf (hatavácʹ), прыгатава́ць pf (pryhatavácʹ), рыхтава́ць impf (ryxtavácʹ), падрыхтава́ць pf (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: 準備／准备 (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), laittaa valmiiksi
• 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: 準備する (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: подготвува impf (podgotvuva), подготви pf (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 (fa) (âmâde kardan), تیار کردن (tayyâr kardan), آمودن (fa)
• 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: припре́мити pf, прѝправити pf

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

• Slovak: pripravovať impf, pripraviť pf
• Slovene: pripravljati impf, pripraviti (sl) pf
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: pśigótowaś impf or pf

• 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: готува́ти impf (hotuváty), підготува́ти pf (pidhotuváty), приготува́ти pf (pryhotuváty), гото́вити impf (hotóvyty), рихтува́ти impf (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 (fa)
• 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: pśigótowaś impf or pf

• 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: гатава́цца impf (hatavácca), прыгатава́цца pf (pryhatavácca), рыхтава́цца impf (ryxtavácca), падрыхтава́цца pf (padryxtavácca)
• Bulgarian: подго́твям се (bg) impf (podgótvjam se)
• Catalan: preparar-se
• Cherokee: ᎠᏛᏅᎢᏍᏗᎭ (advnvisdiha)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 準備／准备 (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: 準備する (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 sa impf, pripraviť sa pf
• Spanish: prepararse
• Swahili: andaa (sw)
• Swedish: förbereda (sv) sig
• Turkish: hazırlanmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: готува́тися impf (hotuvátysja), гото́витися impf (hotóvytysja), підготува́тися pf (pidhotuvátysja), приготува́тися pf (pryhotuvátysja), рихтува́тися impf (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 (fa)
• 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 at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

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

Noun

prepare

1. (obsolete) preparation
   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], line 130:

     Go levy men, and make prepare for war;

Anagrams

• paperer, repaper

Galician

Verb

prepare

1. inflection of preparar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French préparer (“prepare”), from Latin praeparāre (“make ready in advance”), from prae- (“pre-”) + parāre (“make ready”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɣepaɣe/

Verb

prepare

1. prepare

Portuguese

Verb

prepare

1. inflection of preparar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [preˈpare]

Verb

prepare

1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of prepara

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Verb

prepare

1. inflection of preparar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative