Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Preparatory
Pre·par′a·to·ry (prē·păr′ȧ·tō·ry̆), a. [L. praeparatorius: cf. F. préparatoire.] Preparing the way for anything by previous measures of adaptation; antecedent and adapted to what follows; introductory; preparative; as, a preparatory school; a preparatory condition.