Preparation \Prep`a*ra"tion\, n. [F. pr['e]paration, L. praeparatio. See Prepare.]

[1913 Webster]

1. The act of preparing or fitting beforehand for a particular purpose, use, service, or condition; previous arrangement or adaptation; a making ready; as, the preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the preparation of troops for a campaign. [1913 Webster]

2. The state of being prepared or made ready; preparedness; readiness; fitness; as, a nation in good preparation for war. [1913 Webster]

3. That which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; a preparatory act or measure. [1913 Webster]

I will show what preparations there were in nature for this dissolution. --T. Burnet. [1913 Webster]

4. That which is prepared, made, or compounded by a certain process or for a particular purpose; a combination. Specifically:
   (a) Any medicinal substance fitted for use.
   (b) Anything treated for preservation or examination as a specimen.
   (c) Something prepared for use in cookery. [1913 Webster]

I wish the chemists had been more sparing who magnify their preparations. --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]

In the preparations of cookery, the most volatile parts of vegetables are destroyed. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]

5. An army or fleet. [Obs.]

--Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. (Mus.) The holding over of a note from one chord into the next chord, where it forms a temporary discord, until resolved in the chord that follows; the anticipation of a discordant note in the preceding concord, so that the ear is prepared for the shock. See Suspension. [1913 Webster]

7. Accomplishment; qualification. [Obs.]

--Shak. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

207 Moby Thesaurus words for "preparation": accouterment, adaptation, anticipation, apprenticeship, architecture, armament, arrangement, arrangements, assembly, balm, balsam, basic training, breaking, breeding, briefing, building, casting, catering, chandlery, composing, composition, compound, concoction, conditioning, construction, contemplation, conversion, crafting, craftsmanship, cramming, creation, cultivation, development, devising, discipline, discretion, drill, drilling, drops, drug, education, elaboration, electuary, elixir, endowment, envisagement, envisionment, equipment, erection, ethical drug, exercise, extraction, fabrication, farseeingness, farsightedness, fashioning, fetching-up, finding, fitness, fitting out, forecast, foreglance, foregleam, foreglimpse, forehandedness, foreseeing, foresight, foresightedness, formation, forming, formulation, fostering, foundation, framing, furnishing, furnishment, generic name, grooming, groundwork, growing, handicraft, handiwork, harmonization, harvesting, herbs, housebreaking, improvement, in-service training, inhalant, instruction, instrumentation, intonation, investment, lincture, linctus, logistics, longsightedness, looking ahead, machining, making, manual training, manufacture, manufacturing, materia medica, material, measures, medicament, medication, medicinal, medicinal herbs, medicine, military training, milling, mining, mixture, modulation, molding, nonprescription drug, nurture, nurturing, officinal, on-the-job training, orchestration, organization, organizing, outfitting, patent medicine, pharmacon, phrasing, physic, planning, plans, powder, practice, prediction, prefabrication, prep, preparing, prepping, prepublication, prescription drug, preview, prevision, proceedings, processing, procurement, producing, product, proprietary, proprietary medicine, proprietary name, prospect, prospection, providence, providing, provision, provisioning, provisions, prudence, purveyance, putting together, raising, readiness, readying, rearing, refining, rehearsal, reinforcement, replenishment, resolution, resupply, retailing, sagacity, selling, setting, shaping, simples, sloyd, smelting, solution, spadework, study, studying, stuff, subsidization, subsidy, substance, subvention, supply, supplying, suspension, swotting, syrup, teaching, theraputant, tisane, tone painting, training, transcription, tuition, upbringing, vegetable remedies, victualing, vocational education, vocational training, work, workmanship

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

preparation

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Preparation \Prep`a*ra"tion\, n. [F. pr['e]paration, L. praeparatio. See Prepare.]

1. The act of preparing or fitting beforehand for a particular purpose, use, service, or condition; previous arrangement or adaptation; a making ready; as, the preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the preparation of troops for a campaign.

2. The state of being prepared or made ready; preparedness; readiness; fitness; as, a nation in good preparation for war.

3. That which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; a preparatory act or measure.

I will show what preparations there were in nature for this dissolution. --T. Burnet.

4. That which is prepared, made, or compounded by a certain process or for a particular purpose; a combination. Specifically:
   (a) Any medicinal substance fitted for use.
   (b) Anything treated for preservation or examination as a specimen.
   (c) Something prepared for use in cookery.

I wish the chemists had been more sparing who magnify their preparations. --Sir T. Browne.

In the preparations of cookery, the most volatile parts of vegetables are destroyed. --Arbuthnot.

5. An army or fleet. [Obs.]

--Shak.

6. (Mus.) The holding over of a note from one chord into the next chord, where it forms a temporary discord, until resolved in the chord that follows; the anticipation of a discordant note in the preceding concord, so that the ear is prepared for the shock. See Suspension.

7. Accomplishment; qualification. [Obs.]

--Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)