preposition
1any member of a class of words found in many languages that are used before nouns, pronouns, or other substantives to form phrases functioning as modifiers of verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and that typically express a spatial, temporal, or other relationship, as in, on, by, to, since.
Origin of preposition
1Grammar notes for preposition
Other words from preposition
- prep·o·si·tion·al, adjective
- prep·o·si·tion·al·ly, adverb
- non·prep·o·si·tion·al, adjective
- non·prep·o·si·tion·al·ly, adverb
- qua·si-prep·o·si·tion·al, adjective
- qua·si-prep·o·si·tion·al·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with preposition
- preposition , proposition
Other definitions for preposition (2 of 2)
or pre-po·si·tion
to position in advance or beforehand: to preposition troops in anticipated trouble spots.
Origin of preposition
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use preposition in a sentence
It must be in keeping with indefinite defining articles, and post-positive pre-positions.
Lectures on Language | William S. Balch
British Dictionary definitions for preposition
/ (ˌprɛpəˈzɪʃən) /
a word or group of words used before a noun or pronoun to relate it grammatically or semantically to some other constituent of a sentence: Abbreviation: prep
Origin of preposition
1usage For preposition
Derived forms of preposition
- prepositional, adjective
- prepositionally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for preposition
A part of speech that indicates the relationship, often spatial, of one word to another. For example, “She paused at the gate”; “This tomato is ripe for picking”; and “They talked the matter over head to head.” Some common prepositions are at, by, for, from, in, into, on, to, and with.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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