præ-

præ-

in med.L. also pre-, a L. prep. and adv., meaning ‘before’; a very frequent prefix and combining element. In Eng. the L. spelling was formerly not uncommon, but is now usual only in words that are still regarded as Latin, as præcipe, præcognitum, præcordia, præmunire, or that are terms of classical antiquity, as prætor. In other words pre- is now the usual form.

There are some 17th century words that became obsolete before the pre- form became predominant, which are found only with the spelling præ-. This spelling has also been deliberately used by some writers in words commonly spelt with pre- and so entered in this dictionary.