Total preorder
A
total preorder over a
set X is a
preorder ≤ over
X that is
total; that is, for all
a and
b in
X, it holds that
a ≤
b or
b ≤
a.
The difference between a total preorder and a total order is that a total preorder (since it is only a preorder) is not required to be antisymmetric.
An example is (X, ≤) where X = {1, 2} and a ≤ b for all a and b in X.