Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PREP-A-RA'TION, n. [L. præparatio. See Prepare.]

1. The act or operation of preparing or fitting for a particular purpose, use, service or condition; as, the preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the preparation of troops for a campaign; the preparation of a nation for war; the preparation of men for future happiness. Preparation is intended to prevent evil or secure good.
2. Previous measures of adaptation. I will show what preparations there were in nature for this dissolution. – Burnet.
3. Ceremonious introduction. [Unusual.] – Shak.
4. That which is prepared, made or compounded for a particular purpose. I wish the chimists had been more sparing, who magnify their preparations. – Brown.
5. The state of being prepared or in readiness; as, a nation in good preparation for attack or defense.
6. Accomplishment; qualification. [Not in use.] – Shak.
7. In pharmacy, any medicinal substance fitted for the use of the patient. – Encyc.
8. In anatomy, the parts of animal bodies prepared and preserved for anatomical uses. – Encyc. Preparation of dissonances, in music, is their disposition in harmony in such a manner that by something congenial in what precedes, they may be rendered less harsh to the ear than they would be without such preparation. – Encyc. Preparation of medicines, the process of fitting any substance for use in the art of healing.