What does preparing mean?
Preparing means getting ready or doing the work required to make someone or something ready. The form is the present participle and gerund of prepare and is especially common in the expression preparing for an event, task, or difficulty: a team may be preparing for a final match, while a government may be preparing for a change in policy. It can also mean arranging, organizing, or making something fit for use, as when someone spends an afternoon preparing dinner or a report. In these uses, preparing emphasizes the activity that precedes completion rather than the finished state itself. The related form prepared can refer to someone who has completed that activity and is ready. Preparing is therefore useful when the focus is on readiness in progress, deliberate arrangement, or the preliminary stages of a larger process.
verbPreparing is the present participle and gerund of prepare. It means getting ready or carrying out the tasks needed to make someone or something ready.
- Getting ready for an activity, event, or possible situation.
- Making, arranging, or putting something in the condition needed for use or action.
- Taking preliminary steps toward bringing about a future result.
"The committee is preparing for tomorrow's hearing."
"The students are preparing for their final examinations."
"She spent the afternoon preparing a rich vegetable stew."
At its core, prepare means arranging or setting something in order beforehand—a fittingly practical origin for a word about getting ready.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does preparing come from?
Preparing comes from the English verb prepare, which entered Middle English through Old French and Medieval Latin praeparare. Latin praeparare was formed from pro-, meaning “before” or “in front of,” and parare, meaning “to set in order” or “arrange.” Related Latin formations produced words such as repair and impair, while apparare, meaning “to prepare” or “equip,” underlies apparatus and apparel.
Related word forms
How preparing is actually used
Preparing is used in formal and informal contexts. It may also precede a noun as a participial modifier, as in “the preparing ceremony,” although preparatory is often more conventional before a noun. As a gerund, it can follow a preposition, as in “the preparing of the report,” though preparation is usually preferred.