Meanings
- uncountableeducationA course, or set of courses, that includes (specifically) trigonometry and algebra at an appropriate level to prepare students to study calculus.
2023, Mehdi Rahmani-Andebili, Precalculus, Springer, page v, Moreover, in many universities and colleges, a precalculus course is mandatory for under-prepared students as the prerequisite course of Calculus 1.
2 more examples
2016, Pam Goodner (lead writer/editor), Eureka Math Precalculus Study Guide, Wiley (Jossey-Bass), page ix, As we wrote the Precalculus course, we wanted to create interest for older high school students by presenting topics in a context, something that students could relate to so that they could see the value in their work.
2017, Sheldon Axler, Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus, Wiley, 3rd Edition, page xviii, Similarly, many precalculus textbooks consider, for example, a colony of bacteria doubling in size every 3 hours, with the textbook then producing the formula e/3) for the growth factor after t hours.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna college-level algebra and trigonometry course that is designed to prepare students for the study of calculus
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
- Proto-Italic*prai
- Proto-Italic*prai-
- Latinprae-
- Middle Englishpre-
- Englishpre-
- Englishcalculus
- Englishprecalculus
Translations
French pré-calcul
- pré-calculclass before calculus
German Elementarmathematik
- Elementarmathematikclass before calculus
Cite this entry
precalculus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precalculus
“precalculus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precalculus. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “precalculus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precalculus.
Source: precalculus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.