Meanings
adjectiveprerequisite (not comparable)
- not comparableRequired as a prior condition of something else; necessary or indispensable.
The prerequisite warm-up to the match was ignored.
1 more example
A good command of Spanish is prerequisite for enrolling in this course.
nounprerequisite (plural prerequisites)
plural prerequisites
- Something that is required as necessary or indispensable, or as a prior condition of something else.
A degree is a prerequisite for entry into this profession.
2 more examples
Only a full-scale analysis of the origin and development of our sensations and ideas can provide this knowledge; so Hartley's associationist psychology becomes the prerequisite for moral knowledge.
1995, Richard Olson, Science Deified & Science DefiedIf you examine the prerequisites list, you will notice it does not include bootstrapper packages for the Office 2003 PIAs.
2009, Rob Bovey, Stephen Bullen, Dennis Wallentin, John Green, Professional Excel Development
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiverequired as a prior condition or course of study
Similar
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-
- Englishrequisite
- Englishprerequisite
Translations
Arabic لَازِم, شَرْط
- لَازِم (lāzim)indispensable
- شَرْط (šarṭ)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
- اِحْتِيَاج (iḥtiyāj)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
- وُجُوب (wujūb)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
Bulgarian предпоставка
- предпоставка (predpostavka)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
Chinese Mandarin 前提, 先修(課程) /先修
- 前提 (qiántí)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
- 先修(課程) /先修a course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
Czech nutný, nezbytný
- nutnýindispensable
- nezbytnýindispensable
- předpokladSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Danish forudsætning
- forudsætningSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Dutch voorwaarde, vereiste
- voorwaardeSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- vereisteSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- vereistea course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
Estonian eeldus
- eeldusSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Finnish edellytys, ennakkoehto
- edellytysSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- ennakkoehtoSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- esitietovaatimusa course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
French prérequis, préalable
- prérequisindispensable
- préalableindispensable
- nécessaireindispensable
- préalableSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- prérequisSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- prérequisa course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
German unabdingbar, unverzichtbar
- unabdingbarindispensable
- unverzichtbarindispensable
- vorauszusetzenindispensable
- zwingend erforderlichindispensable
- als Vorbedingung geltendindispensable
- VoraussetzungSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- VorbedingungSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- UnabdingbarkeitSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- zwingendes ErfordernisSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- Teilnahmevoraussetzunga course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
Hungarian előfeltétel, előkövetelmény
- előfeltételSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- előkövetelménySomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Indonesian prasyarat
- prasyaratSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Japanese 前提, 前提条件
- 前提 (zentei)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
- 前提条件 (zenteijouken)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
Latvian priekšnoteikums
- priekšnoteikumsSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Norwegian Bokmål forutsetning, betingelse
- forutsetningSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- betingelseSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Persian پیشنیاز, پیشنیاز
- پیشنیاز (pišniyāz)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
- پیشنیاز (pišniyāz)a course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
Polish warunek wstępny
- warunek wstępnySomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Portuguese pré-requisito, pré-requisito
- pré-requisitoSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- pré-requisitoa course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
Russian предпосы́лка, предусловие
- предпосы́лка (predposýlka)Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
- предусловие (preduslovije)a course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started
Spanish requisito previo, condición previa
- requisito previoSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- condición previaSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- prerrequisitoSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Swedish förutsättning, betingelse
- förutsättningSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
- betingelseSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Turkish ön koşul
- ön koşulSomething that must be gained in order to gain something else
Cite this entry
APA
prerequisite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prerequisite
MLA
“prerequisite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prerequisite. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prerequisite,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prerequisite.
Source: prerequisite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.