preinstall

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-i

Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i?

Proto-Italic *prai

Proto-Italic *prai-

Latin prae-lbor.

Middle English pre-

English pre-

English install

English preinstall

From pre- + install.

Verb

preinstall (third-person singular simple present preinstalls, present participle preinstalling, simple past and past participle preinstalled)

(transitive) To install (software, etc.) in advance.
My computer came with the operating system preinstalled.
- 2013 December 24, Heather Kelly, “Tips for getting started with your new mobile gadget”, in CNN Business‎^[1], archived from the original on 7 July 2016:
  The problem is especially bad with Android and Windows phones sold through third-party carriers, which like to preinstall all sorts of bloatware. […] Apple devices are more conservative with preinstalled apps, but there is a core group of iOS apps you can't uninstall.
- 2024 November 27, Paul Bigland, “Around the UK on nearly 80 trains...”, in RAIL, number 1023, page 48:
  The Scots have had the foresight to install passive provision for electrification, having plans in existence and by pre-installing piles for OLE (overhead line equipment) mast bases.

Adjective

preinstall (not comparable)

(computing) Prior to installation.
I can't install this software because one of the preinstall checks failed.