"produced, issued, or occurring in advance of publication," 1903, from pre- "before" + publication.
Entries linking to prepublication
pre-
word-forming element meaning "before," from Old French pre- and Medieval Latin pre-, both from Latin prae (adverb and preposition) "before in time or place," from PIE *peri- (source also of Oscan prai, Umbrian pre, Sanskrit pare "thereupon," Greek parai "at," Gaulish are- "at, before," Lithuanian prie "at," Old Church Slavonic pri "at," Gothic faura, Old English fore "before"), extended form of root *per- (1) "forward," hence "beyond, in front of, before."
The Latin word was active in forming verbs. Also see prae-. Sometimes in Middle English muddled with words in pro- or per-.
publication n.
late 14c., publicacioun, "the act of making publicly known, notification to the people at large," from Old French publicacion (14c.) and directly from Latin publicationem (nominative publicatio) "a making public; an adjudging to the public treasury," noun of action from past-participle stem of publicare "make public," from publicus (see public (adj.)).
The meaning "the issuing of a written or printed work to the public by sale or distribution" is recorded by 1570s; as the word for the thing so issued and offered, from 1650s. Compare publicization. Parallel publishment existed alongside this word.