preconditioning
|pre-con-di-tion-ing|
/ˌpriːkənˈdɪʃənɪŋ/
(precondition)
necessary condition
Etymology
'preconditioning' originates from English, specifically from the verb 'precondition', which is formed by the prefix 'pre-' (from Latin 'prae') meaning 'before' and the noun 'condition' (from Latin 'conditio') meaning 'a setting, agreement, or terms'.
'condition' comes from Latin 'conditio' via Old French 'condition' into Middle English 'condition'; the prefix 'pre-' (from Latin 'prae') was attached in modern English to form 'precondition', and the gerund/noun 'preconditioning' developed from that base.
Initially it meant 'to set conditions beforehand' or 'to require something in advance'; over time it broadened and gained specialized technical senses (for example, meaning 'apply a preparatory process' in numerical analysis, engineering, and medicine).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the act or process of preparing or conditioning something in advance; a preparatory treatment or arrangement.
The preconditioning of the metal improved its durability before testing.
Synonyms
Noun 2
in technical and scientific contexts (e.g., numerical analysis, engineering, medicine), a preparatory procedure applied to improve performance or outcome — for example, transforming a numerical problem to improve convergence or applying a treatment to increase tolerance.
Preconditioning the linear system reduced the number of iterations required by the solver.
Synonyms
Verb 1
present participle form of 'precondition'.
They are preconditioning the samples before the experiment.
Last updated: 2025/12/10 19:08