pretrial

P3R1E1T1R1I1A1L1
/pɹɪˈtɹaɪəl/

adjective

Pertaining to a preliminary trial.

“As a result, another pretrial review was to be held on 17 February.”

Similar
pretrial conference
OriginEnglish trial ← Middle English trial ← Anglo-Norman trial →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

adjectivepretrial (not comparable)

alternative pre-trial

  1. not comparablePertaining to a preliminary trial.
  2. not comparableBefore a trial.

    “A Navy Sailor has been placed in pretrial confinement in connection with the death of Seaman Resendiz. Charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are pending,” NCIS told CNN in a statement Thursday.

    2025 June 13, Rosa Flores, “Missing Navy sailor found dead in Virginia, another sailor in custody”, in CNN
nounpretrial (plural pretrials)

plural pretrials · alternative pre-trial

  1. lawA preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial.

    As a result, another pretrial review was to be held on 17 February.

Synonyms & antonyms

noun(law) a conference held before the trial begins to bring the parties together to outline discovery proceedings and to define the issues to be tried; more useful in civil than in criminal cases

Similar
pretrial conference
Broader
conferencegroup discussion

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Old Frenchtrier
  10. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  12. Anglo-Normantrial
  13. Middle Englishtrial
  14. Englishtrial
  15. Englishpretrial

From pre- + trial.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian предварително производство
  • предварително производство (predvaritelno proizvodstvo)a preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Chinese Mandarin 預審 /预审
  • 預審 /预审 (yùshěn)a preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
German Vorverhandlung
  • Vorverhandlunga preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Indonesian praperadilan
  • praperadilana preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Italian predibattimento
  • predibattimentoa preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Japanese 予審
  • 予審 (yoshin)a preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Korean 예심
  • 예심 (yesim)a preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Malay prabicara
  • prabicaraa preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Polish przedprocesowy
  • przedprocesowya preliminary trial held in advance of a court trial
Cite this entry
APA

pretrial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretrial

MLA

“pretrial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretrial. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pretrial,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretrial.

Source: pretrial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.