prefect

CEFRB2

/ˈpɹiːfɛkt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person given authority to keep order in a school or area.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The head of a department in France.

Examples

  • Charlie absolutely did not deserve to be made a prefect.

  • I can't believe they made Charlie a prefect!

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An official of Ancient Rome who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc.

  2. The head of a county in Albania or Romania.

  3. The head of a prefecture in Japan.

More examples

In context

  • the prefect of the aqueducts; the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guard, or of provisions; the pretorian prefect, who was commander of the troops guarding the emperor's person

  • It seems that in the autumn of 803 he went on leave. His uncle Po Chi-chên, had recently been moved from his post at Hsü-chou and promoted to be Prefect of Hsü-chʻang in Central Honan.

  • Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga - perhaps too much dice, you know - coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The senior blank monitored the hallway to ensure students were not running.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English prefect and prefecte, from Old French prefect (Mod. French préfet), from Latin praefectus (“one placed in charge, overseer, director, prefect”), from praeficere (“to place in charge”).