English
pre
Pre comes from Latin prae ‘in front of’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*préh₂i1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*prai1‘before’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprae2‘in front of’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019pre2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin prae
- 2 Wiktionary, English pre
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2019, Paul P. Murphy and Samira Said, Louisiana arson suspect expressed disgust with Baptist churc: “In the posting, Matthews said he wished that, “more…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*préh₂iWiktionary, Latin praereconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*praiWiktionary, Latin prae‘before’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraeWiktionary, English pre‘in front of’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019preWiktionary, English pre. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2019, Paul P. Murphy and Samira Said, Louisiana arson suspect expressed disgust with Baptist churc: “In the posting, Matthews said he wished that, “more…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before’
first, before, support, far, per, further, report, fear, opportunity, private, price, practice, port, primary, afford, ford, prior, prime, forth, press, appreciate, practical, prize, parade, par, pregnant, ferry, praise, pirate, privilege, interpretation, porch, pardon, precious, primitive, fare, peril, afar, prix, petra, 155 more
through Proto-Italic *prai ‘before’
prestigious, preface, prefix, preeminent, precede, prescient, impregnate, 8 more
through Latin prae ‘in front of’
Today it means
prep Before (something significant).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “pre”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin prae. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.