praefero

Latin

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, irregular

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

Conjugation

Conjugation of praeferō (third conjugation, irregular, suppletive)
indicative		singular			plural
		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
		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
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	praefer	—	—	praeferte	—
	future	—	praefertō	praefertō	—	praefertōte	praeferuntō
passive	present	—	praeferre	—	—	praeferiminī	—
	future	—	praefertor	praefertor	—	—	praeferuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		praeferre	praetulisse	praelātūrum esse	praeferrī	praelātum esse	praelātum īrī
participles		praeferēns	—	praelātūrus	—	praelātus	praeferendus, praeferundus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		praeferendī	praeferendō	praeferendum	praeferendō	praelātum	praelātū

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

• adferō / afferō
• auferō
• circumferō
• cōnferō
• dēferō
• differō
• efferō
• ferō
• īnferō
• interferō
• intrōferō
• offerō
• perferō
• postferō
• praeterferor
• prōferō
• referō
• sufferō
• trānsferō

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 (2003-2024), 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