praefero

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *praiferō. Equivalent to prae- (“before”, "in front”) +‎ ferō (“I carry”, “I bear”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈprae̯.fe.roː/, [ˈpräe̯fɛroː]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpre.fe.ro/, [ˈprɛːfero]

Verb

praeferō (present infinitive praeferre, perfect active praetulī, supine praelātum); third conjugation, suppletive

(transitive) to bear, hold or carry before or forth, place or set before
(transitive) to offer, present
(transitive) to prefer, like, give preference to
(transitive) to take beforehand, anticipate
(transitive) to show, display, exhibit, discover, expose, reveal, betray
(passive voice) to surpass, cross over, go beyond, exceed

Conjugation

More information indicative, singular ...

indicative		singular				plural
indicative		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	praeferō	praefers		praefert	praeferimus	praefertis		praeferunt
	imperfect	praeferēbam	praeferēbās		praeferēbat	praeferēbāmus	praeferēbātis		praeferēbant
	future	praeferam	praeferēs		praeferet	praeferēmus	praeferētis		praeferent
	perfect	praetulī	praetulistī		praetulit	praetulimus	praetulistis		praetulērunt, praetulēre
	pluperfect	praetuleram	praetulerās		praetulerat	praetulerāmus	praetulerātis		praetulerant
	future perfect	praetulerō	praetuleris		praetulerit	praetulerimus	praetuleritis		praetulerint
passive	present	praeferor	praeferris, praeferre		praefertur	praeferimur	praeferiminī		praeferuntur
	imperfect	praeferēbar	praeferēbāris, praeferēbāre		praeferēbātur	praeferēbāmur	praeferēbāminī		praeferēbantur
	future	praeferar	praeferēris, praeferēre		praeferētur	praeferēmur	praeferēminī		praeferentur
	perfect	praelātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	praelātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	praelātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular				plural
subjunctive		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	praeferam	praeferās		praeferat	praeferāmus	praeferātis		praeferant
	imperfect	praeferrem	praeferrēs		praeferret	praeferrēmus	praeferrētis		praeferrent
	perfect	praetulerim	praetulerīs		praetulerit	praetulerīmus	praetulerītis		praetulerint
	pluperfect	praetulissem	praetulissēs		praetulisset	praetulissēmus	praetulissētis		praetulissent
passive	present	praeferar	praeferāris, praeferāre		praeferātur	praeferāmur	praeferāminī		praeferantur
	imperfect	praeferrer	praeferrēris, praeferrēre		praeferrētur	praeferrēmur	praeferrēminī		praeferrentur
	perfect	praelātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	praelātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular				plural
imperative		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	—	praefer		—	—	praeferte		—
active	future	—	praefertō		praefertō	—	praefertōte		praeferuntō
passive	present	—	praeferre		—	—	praeferiminī		—
passive	future	—	praefertor		praefertor	—	—		praeferuntor
non-finite forms		infinitive				participle
non-finite forms		active		passive		active		passive
present		praeferre		praeferrī		praeferēns		—
future		praelātūrum esse		praelātum īrī		praelātūrus		praeferendus, praeferundus
perfect		praetulisse		praelātum esse		—		praelātus
future perfect		—		praelātum fore		—		—
perfect potential		praelātūrum fuisse		—		—		—
verbal nouns		gerund					supine
		genitive	dative		accusative	ablative	accusative		ablative
		praeferendī	praeferendō		praeferendum	praeferendō	praelātum		praelātū

Close

Conjugation of praeferō (third conjugation, suppletive)

Synonyms

(carry forth): profero, produco, induco, perfero, affero, propono, expōnō, edo
(prefer): antevertō, praeoptō, anteferō, praepōnō, mālō
(cross): trānsgredior, praetereō, trānseō, superō, peragō, intrō, trānsmittō

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “carry forth”): aufero, abduco, tollō, adimō, rapiō, ēripiō, dīripiō, arceo, sperno

Derived terms

praefericulum
praelātiō
praelātor
praelātus

Related terms

Descendants

→ Catalan: preferir
→ Dutch: prefereren
→ English: prefer, prelate
→ French: préférer
→ Galician: preferir
→ Italian: preferire
→ Portuguese: preferir
→ Romanian: prefera
→ Sicilian: prifiriri
→ Spanish: preferir

References

“praefero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
praefero in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
“praefero”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
praefero in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to walk before with the fasces; to lower the fasces: fasces praeferre, summittere
praefero in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Latin