Join free

prefect

English · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

prefect

  • /ˈpɹiːfɛkt/

Where it comes from

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”).

noun prefects · præfect · praefect

  1. historical An official of Ancient Rome who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc. 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
  2. The head of a department in France.
  3. The head of a county in Albania or Romania.
  4. The head of a prefecture in Japan.
  5. UK A school pupil in a position of power over other pupils.
  6. A commander.
  7. A head of a dicastery of the Roman Curia of the Roman Catholic Church. His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Reverend Sister Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., who was serving until now as Secretary of the same Dicastery, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

    Similar: provost

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pretorian, praetorian, prefectural, prefecture, governor, reeve, chief, invigilator, supervisor, commissioner, apostolic, commander, warden, executive, pion, pawn

Translations

Every language

noun an official of ancient Rome

Españolprefecto
Portuguêsprefeito
Françaispréfet
DeutschPräfekt
Italianoprefetto
Русскийпрефе́кт prefékt

noun the head of a prefecture, whether a Japanese prefecture, French department, or Balkan county

Españolprefecto
Portuguêsprefeito
Françaispréfet, préfète
DeutschPräfekt, Präfektin
Italianoprefetto
Русскийпрефе́кт prefékt

noun a school pupil in a position of power over other pupils

中文級長 /级长 jízhǎng
Kiswahilikiranja
Italianocapoclasse
Русскийста́роста stárosta

noun a commander

Italianopreposto, capo
Русскийруководи́тель rukovodítelʹ

noun a head of dicastery

Españolprefecto, prefecta
Françaispréfet, préfète
DeutschPräfekt, Präfektin
Italianoprefetto, prefetta

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"prefect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prefect. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prefect. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prefect

Chicago

"prefect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prefect.

BibTeX
@misc{prefect_2026,
  title = {prefect},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prefect},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}