praefectura

Forms

praefectūra f (genitive praefectūrae); first declension^[1] The old spelling ⟨praifectura⟩ appears in an inscription (CIL 1.611).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin praefectus (“prefect”) + -ūra,^[1] the noun of office to praeficiō (“to put in charge”), from prae- and faciō (“to make, do”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus,^[4] whose parasite in the Captivi jokes that he will go and administer justice to the bacon by virtue of his “command”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is a position of authority or command.^[2] From Cicero on it is the office and duties of a praefectus: in civil administration (Cicero refusing such a post to a man in business), in the army, and as an imperial appointment such as the prefecture of Egypt in Pliny the Elder.^[2] It also named an Italian town under Roman jurisdiction where justice was given by a prefect sent from Rome, listed by Cicero beside municipium and colonia, and land taken from a neighbouring district and added to a colony.^[2][5] Later it was a territory whose governor bore the title of prefect, and Pliny applies it to districts of foreign countries such as the satrapies of Armenia.^[2]

In medieval texts it is the office of the mayor of the palace, of a missus dominicus, a patrician, a prefect or a margrave.^[6] Church Latin glosses it “prefecture”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a position of command.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the office of a prefect and of Italian towns under a prefect.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the prefecture of Egypt and of foreign districts.^[2][4]
• Middle Ages – The office of the mayor of the palace or of a missus dominicus.^[6]
• mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as prefecture, partly through Old French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A position of authority, command.^[2]
2. The office and duties of a praefectus, a prefecture, superintendence.^[2][5][1]
3. An Italian town governed by a prefect sent from Rome; land added to a colony from a neighbouring district.^[2][5]
4. A territory governed by a prefect; a province or district of a foreign country.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) The office of a mayor of the palace, a missus dominicus, a patrician or a margrave.^[6]

Related words

• praefectus
• praeficiō
• English prefecture

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com