# pre-
## English
### Alternative forms

* prae-, præ- (archaic, technical or pedantic)
* p͛- (siglum, obsolete)

### Etymology

From Middle English pre-, borrowed from Latin prae-, from the preposition prae (“before”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /pɹiː/
* (US) IPA: /pɹi/, /pɹɪ/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Prefix

pre-
* Before; physically in front of.
** (anatomy) Synonym of anterior.
* Before; earlier in time; beforehand.

#### Usage notes

* This prefix is usually prefixed to words without using a hyphen (for example, prefix, predate). A hyphen is used in the following cases:
** Where excluding a hyphen would be likely to lead to a mispronunciation of the word because "pre" appears not to be a complete syllable (for example, "pre-yaw course", which could be read as "prey aw course" if unhyphenated).
** Always in British English before the letter e (for example, pre-existing)
** Often in British English before other vowels (for example, pre-operative);
** Always in all varieties of English before a character other than a letter (for example, pre-1960) or a capital letter (for example, pre-WWII, pre-Reformation).

#### Synonyms

* (anterior): ante-, fore-
* (beforehand): ante-, fore-

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “anterior”): post-
* (antonym(s) of “beforehand”): after-, post-

#### Derived terms

* pré-
* precocious
* precognition
* predate
* pre-existing
* prefix
* preheat
* premonition
* pre-op
* pre-operative
* preposition
* prequel
* presage
* preview
* previous
* pre-war

#### Translations
### See also

* fore
* pre

### Further reading

* “pre-”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* “pre-”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “pre-”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN. -- includes many derived terms

### Anagrams

* EPR, ERP, PER, Per., RPE, Rep, Rep., per, per-, per., rep

## Catalan
### Etymology

From Latin prae- (“before”).

### Prefix

pre-
* before; used to form words meaning "in front of" or "before"
* before; used to form words meaning superiority or excellence

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* “pre-” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “pre-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “pre-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “pre-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Latin prae-.

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms
## Galician
### Etymology

From Latin prae- (“before”).

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms

From

### Further reading

* “pre-”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Ido
### Etymology

Borrowed from English pre-, French pré-, Italian pre-, Spanish pre-, Russian пред- (pred-), пре- (pre-).

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms
## Italian
### Etymology

From Latin prae- (“before”).

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms

* pre-maman
* preadattamento
* preanticipare
* preario
* prebarocco
* preceltico
* precomprensione
* preconcordatario
* precongressuale
* preconsuntivo
* precritico
* precucinato
* predefinizione
* predefunto
* predibattimento
* predimostrazione
* predistinguere
* prefascista
* prefigurativo
* prefinito
* pregrafismo
* preincarico
* preindicato
* preintrodurre
* preleggi
* prelodato
* prelogico
* prelogismo
* premenopausa
* prenascere
* prenegoziato
* prenominato
* Preominidi
* preorale
* prepagamento
* prepossente
* preraffaelita
* preromanzo
* preruolo
* presantificato
* presciistica
* presegnalazione
* preselettore
* presemina
* presistole
* preumanesimo

### Anagrams

* per

## Latin
### Prefix

prē-
* (Medieval Latin) Alternative form of prae-

#### Derived terms
## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Latin prae.

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms
### References

* “pre-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Latin prae.

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms
### References

* “pre-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Polish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /prɛ/
* Rhymes: -ɛ
* Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* pre- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /pɾe/
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɾɨ/

### Prefix

pre-
* Alternative form of pré-

## Romanian
### Alternative forms

* pri-

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pre/

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin per-, with a few cases influenced by prae. Doublet of prea-.

#### Prefix

pre-
* used with verbs to indicate repetition or insistence
Examples: presăra, prelinge. Compare also prevedea, priveghea

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from French pre-, Latin prae-.
* pre-

#### Synonyms

* ante-

#### Derived terms
## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *per-.

### Prefix

pre- (Cyrillic spelling пре-)
* Prefix prepended to adjectives and adverbs to denote excess of a feature; too, excessively, over-
    dug / predug ― long / overlong
* Prefix prepended to verbs to indicate an action being done excessively, again or differently; re-, over-
    trpati / pretrpati ― to stuff / to overstuff
* Prefix prepended to verbs to indicate change in form, especially through partition
    prepoloviti ― split up
* Prefix prepended to imperfective verbs to make them perfective; to indicate that the action has been carried out
    Spavat ću u hotelu. Prespavao sam u hotelu. ― I will sleep in a hotel. I slept (over) in a hotel.

#### Usage notes

The suffix matches the usage of all mentioned prefixes in English for all adjectives and majority of verbs. When "pre-" may cause confusion or cannot be prefixed to a verb in order to indicate repetition, opet or ponovo ("again" / "anew") followed by the verb construction is used instead, e.g. "redo" would be "ponovno uraditi" ("do again") rather than preraditi ("rework").

## Slovene
### Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *per-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /prɛ-/

### Prefix

pre-
* Forms perfective verbs with the following meanings:
** (no change in meaning)
    ‎pre- + ‎zráčiti (“to ventilate”) → ‎prezráčiti (“to ventilate”)
** through, across
    ‎pre- + ‎grísti (“to bite”) → ‎pregrísti (“to bite through”)
** re-, again
    ‎pre- + ‎bȃrvati (“to paint”) → ‎prebȃrvati (“to repaint”)
** over-, too much
    ‎pre- + ‎plačáti (“to pay”) → ‎preplačáti (“to overpay”)
** for a certain time
    ‎pre- + ‎sedẹ́ti (“to sit”) → ‎presedẹ́ti (“to sit for a certain time”)

#### Derived terms
## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prae- (“before”), from the Latin preposition prae.

### Prefix

pre-
* pre-
    Antonyms: post-, pos-

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* “pre-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10