Pretreating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Applying a chemical or physical treatment to material before the main stage of a manufacturing or cleaning process begins
2. Preparing a surface or substance in advance by subjecting it to a conditioning step before the principal procedure
3. Readying textiles, metal, or other materials through an initial treatment that improves results in later processing

Etymology: "Pretreating" is the present participle of "pretreat," which is a transparent compound: the prefix "pre-," meaning "before," joined to "treat." The prefix comes from Latin "prae," "before" or "in front of," which passed into English through Middle English as "pre-," while "treat" arrived from Old French "traiter" and ultimately from Latin "tractare," "to handle or manage." Put together, the verb means to handle or process something beforehand. The prefix "pre-" is productive in English, so "pretreat" was formed by simply attaching it to an existing verb, the way words like "preheat" or "prepay" were built. Its sense is literal and practical: to subject material such as fabric, metal, water, or seed to a process before the main stage of work begins.

Synonyms: prepare, precondition