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.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pre-

prefix

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

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

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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'.

View in context

Other closing data showed that sales of East Side co-ops of both pre- and post-war vintages closed faster than in previous year's first quarter.

REBNY cites new records in first quarter sales report

REBNY's reconnaissance breaks sales data down by four geographical areas - all of Manhattan, the East Side (from 42nd to 96th streets), the West Side (from 42nd to 110th streets), and Downtown (south of 42nd Street) - and, within each of these districts, by pre- or post-war building vintage and unit size.