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Prefect

 - 3 dictionary results

pre⋅fect

  [pree-fekt]
Use Prefect in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person appointed to any of various positions of command, authority, or superintendence, as a chief magistrate in ancient Rome or the chief administrative official of a department of France or Italy.
2. Roman Catholic Church.
a. the dean of a Jesuit school or college.
b. a cardinal in charge of a congregation in the Curia Romana.
3. Chiefly British. a praeposter.
Also, praefect.

Origin:
1300–50; ME < L praefectus overseer, director (n. use of ptp. of praeficere to make prior, i.e., put in charge), equiv. to prae- pre- + -fectus (comb. form of factus, ptp. of facere to make, do 1 ); see fact
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pre·fect   (prē'fěkt')   
n.  

  1. A high administrative official or chief officer, as:

    1. Any of several high military or civil officials in ancient Rome.

    2. The chief of police of Paris, France.

    3. A chief administrative official of a department of France.

    4. The administrator in charge of discipline at a Jesuit school.

  2. A student monitor or officer, especially in a private school.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin praefectus, from past participle of praeficere, to place at the head of : prae-, pre- + facere, to make; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

prefect 
c.1350, from O.Fr. prefect (12c.), from L. præfectus "public overseer, director," prop. pp. of præficere "to put in front, to set over, put in authority," from præ- "in front, before" + root of facere (pp. factus) "to perform" (see factitious). Spelling restored from M.E. prefet. Meaning "administrative head of the Paris police" is from 1827; meaning "senior pupil designated to keep order in an Eng. school" is from 1865. Prefecture "administrative district of a prefect" is recorded from 1577.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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