Pre-

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

• prae- archaic, technical, or pedantic
• præ- archaic, technical, or pedantic

Origin

From the Latin preposition prae ("before").

Full definition of pre-

Prefix

1. Before; used to form words meaning "in front of (in space)".
2. Before; used to form words meaning "before (in time)".

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).

Synonyms

• ante-
• before
• for-
• in front of

Antonyms

• after-
• post-

Derived terms