preclinicaladj.
/ˌpriːˈklɪnᵻkl/, U.S. /prəˈklɪnᵻk(ə)l/ Medicine.
1. Preceding the onset of the symptoms or clinical signs of a disease.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [adjective] > preceding symptoms
preclinical1876
presymptomatic1928
1876 Lancet 16 Sept. 395/1 It was on the morning of the 27th July he was first seen by my assistant, and the pre-clinical history given was such as just detailed.
1928 Amer. Mercury Oct. 146/2 The examination he sought, as it had been explained to him, was to be pre-clinical—before symptoms or sickness.
1932 S. H. Gaiger & G. O. Davies Vet. Pathol. & Bacteriol. xvii. 277 The difficulty of diagnosing cases in the pre-clinical stage led to efforts to find a diagnostic agent for Johne's disease.
1995 Farmers Weekly 31 Mar. 17/3 Due to the long incubation period of BSE, many animals will have been slaughtered for other reasons while the disease was still preclinical.
2. Of, relating to, or designating the stage of medical education before (regular) involvement in patient care, consisting chiefly of the study of the basic medical sciences (anatomy, physiology, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > art or science of medicine > medical training > [adjective] > parts of training
clinic1719
clinical1780
premedical1893
preclinical1907
preregistration1916
pre-med1918
1907 Science 5 July 31/1 It has authorized the establishment of a college of medicine prepared to give the first two years of preclinical training.
1948 F. Roberts Med. Educ. vii. 48 On entering the pre-clinical stage the student embarks on an intensive study of human anatomy and physiology.
1978 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Med. 71 373 The preclinical and paraclinical subjects that..comprise the early part of the European medical student curriculum.
1991 J. Sayers Mothering Psychoanal. iii. i. 87 Karen passed her preclinical exams the next year and moved to Göttingen.
3. Preceding clinical testing of a drug.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > pharmacy > [adjective] > before clinical testing of drug
preclinical1960
1960 Animal Behaviour 8 241/2 The acute and sub-acute toxicity..is probably of a somewhat lower order in man than, for example the dog that is widely used in pre~clinical testing.
1972 P. R. B. Noel in D. J. Richards & R. K. Rondel Adverse Drug Reactions i. 3 The number of patients used..does not always exceed the number of animals used in the pre-clinical investigations.
1993 Nature 29 Apr. 780/3 The collaboration, which includes an effort to standardize preclinical testing procedures, does not extend to the search for an AIDS vaccine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1876