Meanings
plural preequilibria · alternative pre-equilibrium
- The initial stage of a chemical reaction when the different chemicals are beginning to interact but have not yet reached equilibrium.
The decomposition of peroxydisulfate to sulfate radical ions was taken to be a rapid preequilibrium, and was postulated to be followed by the rate-determining reaction of a sulfate radical ion with MG to produce a radical intermediate, I.
1992, International journal of chemical kinetics, page 11101 more example
In cases involving multiple preequilibria (e.g., multiple substrates, induced conformational change), K.,, reveals little about each of these steps individually. In the case of allosteric interaction, characteristic kinetic behavior is...
2009, Stephen J. Lippard, Current Research Topics in Bioinorganic Chemistry, Volume 18
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
- Proto-Italic*prai
- Proto-Italic*prai-
- Latinprae-
- Middle Englishpre-
- Englishpre-
- Englishequilibrium
- Englishpreequilibrium
From pre- + equilibrium.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
preequilibrium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preequilibrium
“preequilibrium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preequilibrium. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preequilibrium,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preequilibrium.
Source: preequilibrium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.