to screen in advance; select before a more detailed selecting process
Word origin
[1965–70; pre- + screen]This word is first recorded in the period 1965–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Coriolis effect, T cell, double-book, hired gun, wraparoundpre- is a prefix occurring originally in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “before”(preclude; prevent); applied freely as a prefix, with the meanings “prior to,” “in advance of,” “early,”“beforehand,” “before,” “in front of,” and with other figurative meanings (preschool; prewar; prepay: preoral; prefrontal)