Prĕp'a-rā'tion, n.

n. [Lat. præparatio, Fr. préparation, Pr. preparacio, Sp. preparacion, It. preparazione. See PREPARE.]

1. The act of preparing or fitting for a particular purpose, use, service, or condition; previous arrangement or adaptation; as, the preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the preparation of troops for a campaign.
2. The state of being prepared or got ready; preparedness; adaptedness; as, a nation in good preparation for war.
3. That which prepares; any thing which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; preparatory act or measure.

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

4. Accomplishment; qualification. [Obs.] Shak.
5. That which is prepared, made, or compounded for a particular purpose; a combination; a confection.

I wish the chemists had been more sparing, who magnify their preparations. Browne.

6. (Anat.) A part of an animal body prepared and preserved as a specimen.
7. (Med.) Any medicinal substance fitted for the use of the patient.
8. (Mus.) That disposition of the harmony by which discords are lawfully introduced. It consists in employing such an arrangement that, by something congenial in what precedes, discords may be rendered less harsh to the ear than they would be without such preparation.