pre-

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pre-

(word root) before

Examples of words with the root pre-: predestination

pre-

pref.

a. Earlier; before; prior to: prehistoric.

b. Preparatory; preliminary: premedical.

c. In advance: prepay.

2. Anterior; in front of: preaxial.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prae-, from prae, before, in front; see per in Indo-European roots.]

pre-

prefix

before in time, rank, order, position, etc: predate; pre-eminent; premeditation; prefrontal; preschool.

[from Latin prae-, from prae before, beforehand, in front]

pre-

a prefix, occurring orig. in loanwords from Latin, meaning “before, in front of,” “prior to, in advance of,” “surpassing” (predict; preeminent; preface; premaxilla); in English, esp. productive in forming verbs that specify an activity taking place before or instead of the usual occurrence of the same activity (preboard; precook; prepay), or in forming adjectives that specify a period of time prior to the event, period, person, etc., denoted by the headword (pre-Columbian; preschool).

Also, prae-.

[< Latin prae-, prefixal use of prae (preposition and adv.)]

pre-

A prefix that means "earlier, before," or "in advance," as in prenatal, before birth.

Translations

pre-

[ˈpriː-]

prefix → pré-
pre-1970 adj → d'avant 1970; adv → avant 1970

pre-

pref → vor-; (esp with words derived from Latin or Greek) → prä-; preschool → vorschulisch; prefascist → präfaschistisch; at pre-1980 prices → zu Preisen von vor 1980

References in classic literature ?

Hesiod's diction is in the main Homeric, but one of his charms is the use of quaint allusive phrases derived, perhaps, from a pre- Hesiodic peasant poetry: thus the season when Boreas blows is the time when `the Boneless One gnaws his foot by his fireless hearth in his cheerless house'; to cut one's nails is `to sever the withered from the quick upon that which has five branches'; similarly the burglar is the `day-sleeper', and the serpent is the `hairless one'.