prefecto

Forms

prefecto m (plural prefectos, feminine prefecta, feminine plural prefectas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praefectus (“one placed in charge, commander, governor”), a learned word.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin noun is the past participle of praeficiō (“to put in charge, set over”), formed with prae- (“in front”) and faciō (“to make, put”).^[3][6][7] Corominas lists it among the learned derivatives of the Latin verb, beside afecto and perfecto.^[2]

The same word is Italian prefetto and French préfet.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old Spanish records begin with the prose of Alfonso X: the word is in the Siete Partidas (1256–1265), and the Estoria de España (1270–1284) explains the Roman office for its readers: prefectos were those placed over the cities, the equivalent of the merinos, the alguaziles or the chief magistrates of the towns.^[9][10] Corominas, who dates it only from Alfonso de Palencia's dictionary of 1490, did not know these records.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the word belonged to Roman history: in 1726–1739 the Diccionario de Autoridades describes the prefect of the city, who governed Rome in the absence of the consuls, and the praetorian prefect, and the later governors of the provinces of the Empire.^[11] It also gives the modern uses: the official who presides over a court, a board or a religious community (el Prefecto del Choro, who set the times of the masses), and the person charged with seeing that an office is carried out.^[11] Covarrubias had already noted in 1611 that some religious orders call their superiors so.^[12] In the Americas Oviedo used prefetos for native rulers, “whom the Indians call caciques”.^[13]

The French sense, the governor of a department, appears in Domínguez's dictionary of 1846–1847 and is in the Academy's.^[14][4] In the religious colleges the prefect is the priest in charge of studies and discipline.^[5][15] In Peru and Bolivia the prefect is the political head of a regional government, in Chile a chief of police in a district, in Ecuador a provincial authority.^[16] The derivative is prefectura.^[3]

Timeline

• 1256–1265 – Alfonso X's Siete Partidas.^[9]
• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España explains the Roman prefects.^[10]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario, the first record according to Corominas.^[2][3]
• 1546 – the first record from the Americas, in Oviedo, for native rulers.^[13]
• 1611 – Covarrubias notes the use for the superiors of religious orders.^[12]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades describes the Roman offices and the ecclesiastical prefect.^[11]
• 1846–1847 – Domínguez records the head of a French department.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. An official who presides over and directs a court, board or ecclesiastical community.^[4][18]
2. (history) A prefect: among the Romans, the title of various military or civil chiefs.^[4][18]
3. A person responsible for seeing that certain duties are carried out properly; in religious schools, the priest in charge of studies or discipline: Lo mandaron al despacho del prefecto.^[4][5]
4. In France, the governor of a department.^[4][18]
5. (Peru, Bolivia) The political head of a regional or local government; in Chile a chief of police in a district, in Ecuador a provincial authority.^[16]

Word family

• prefectura

Related words

• afecto
• perfecto
• Latin praefectus

Usage notes

The feminine is prefecta.^[4][1] Prefecto del pretorio or prefecto pretorio is the praetorian prefect, who from Constantine's time governed one of the great divisions of the Roman Empire.^[4][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 64
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. prefecto
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. prefecto
5. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. prefecto
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. prefecto
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 198
9. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. prefecto
10. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. prefecto
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 353
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1226
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. prefecto
14. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1416
15. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 240
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. prefecto
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 858
18. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. prefecto
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 583