Etymograph

English

preces

Preces comes from Latin prex ‘prayers’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to request, ask’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-1‘to request, ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*preks1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprex2as precēs‘prayers’
  4. Englishtodaypreces2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin prex
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English preces

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-Wiktionary, Latin prex‘to request, ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*preksWiktionary, Latin prexreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprexWiktionary, English precesas precēs‘prayers’
  4. EnglishtodayprecesWiktionary, English preces

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to request, ask’

arrogant, arrogance, derogatory, prerogative, postulate, derogation, 25 more

through Latin prex ‘prayers’

prayer, pray, precarious, deprecation, 9 more

Today it means

noun The alternate responsive petitions, as the versicles and suffrages, between the clergyman and the congregation in liturgical worship.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “preces”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin prex. 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.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- / preces

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