Meaning

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

originEtymology 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 trial English pretrial From pre- + trial.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0