prefect

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prefect, also prefette,^[2] borrowed from Old French prefect,^{[3][4][5][6][2]} now préfet,^[4][5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin praefectus (“overseer, director; holder of a public office”),^[3][4][7][2] the noun use of the past participle of praeficiō (“to set over, put in authority over”),^[3][4][8][5] formed from prae- (“before”) and faciō (“to make, do; appoint”),^[3][4][8] from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to set, put”).^[4][8] In Anglo-Norman the word is recorded from the late 12th century for a commander,^[3] and it is found from the early 13th century for a Roman magistrate or governor.^[9][3] The spelling was restored on the Latin model from Middle English prefet.^[4][10] The OED compares Spanish prefecto, Italian prefetto and Portuguese prefeito.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A senior magistrate or governor in ancient Rome: about 1380, in Chaucer's Second Nun's Tale.^[3] Barnhart dates the word probably to about 1350,^[7] Etymonline to the mid-14th century,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1300–50.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Before 1382 the early Wycliffite Bible used the word of similar officers elsewhere in the ancient world.^[3][2] Before 1439 Lydgate applied it to governors, directors and magistrates of the medieval and modern world.^[3] A verb prefect, to appoint to a post of authority, was used from 1489 to 1602,^[3] and Ben Jonson used the noun figuratively for a ministering angel (1608).^[3] From 1670 it named a cardinal presiding over a congregation of the Roman Curia.^[3][12] Its use for the chief administrative officer of a French department, and for the head of the Paris police, dates from 1800,^[3][4] after French préfet, used of the department officer from 1793;^[3] in 1853 it was applied to the governor of a Chinese or Japanese prefecture.^[3] The school sense, a senior pupil given authority over younger ones, appears in 1826, in Disraeli's Vivian Grey;^[3] Etymonline dates it to 1864,^[4] and Weekley and the Oxford Dictionary of English to the 19th century.^[10][13] Johnson (1755) gave only "governor; commander".^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – a magistrate or governor of ancient Rome, in Chaucer.^[3]
• before 1382 – a similar officer elsewhere in the ancient world.^[3]
• before 1439 – a governor, director or magistrate in the medieval and modern world.^[3]
• 1489 – verb, to appoint to a post of authority (obsolete by 1602).^[3]
• 1608 – figuratively, a ministering angel (obsolete by 1705).^[3]
• 1670 – a cardinal presiding over a congregation of the Roman Curia.^[3]
• 1800 – the chief officer of a French department; the head of the Paris police.^[3][4]
• 1826 – a senior pupil with authority over younger pupils.^[3] Etymonline dates it to 1864.^[4]
• 1853 – the governor of a Chinese or Japanese prefecture.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. In some schools, chiefly British, a senior pupil given authority and disciplinary duties over younger pupils: She was made a prefect in her final year.^[3][15][12]
2. The chief administrative officer of a department in France, or of a similar division in Italy and other countries.^[15][3]
3. In France, the head of a police force, especially the Prefect of Police in Paris.^[15][3][12]
4. In ancient Rome, any of various senior magistrates, governors or military commanders.^[15][12][3]
5. In the Roman Catholic Church, a cardinal presiding over a congregation of the Roman Curia.^[3][12]
6. The governor of a prefecture in China or Japan.^[3]

Word family

• subprefect
• underprefect

Related words

• prefecture
• perfect
• fact

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins