Wiktionary

preposition

See also: pre-position and préposition

English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English preposicioun, from Old French preposicion, from Latin praepositio, praepositionem, from praepono (“to place before”), equivalent to pre- +‎ position. Compare French préposition. So called because it is placed before the word with which it is phrased, as in a bridge of iron, he comes from town, it is good for food, he escaped by running.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • enPR: prĕp-ə-zĭsh'ən, IPA(key): /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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Examples (strict sense)
  • under the table
  • in my pocket
  • past noon
  • on top of the fridge
  • owing to the rain

preposition (plural prepositions)

  1. (grammar, strict sense) Any of a class of non-inflecting words and multiword terms typically employed to connect a following noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word: a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word.
    • 1844, E. A. Andrews, First Lessions in Latin; or Introduction to Andrews and Stoddard's Latin Grammar, 6th edition, Boston, page 91:
      322. The parts of speech which are neither declined nor conjugated, are called by the general name of particles. 323. They are adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
    • 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 9, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 495:
      And in (121) below, we see that when a wh-NP is used as the Object of a Preposition, the whole Prepositional Phrase can undergo WH MOVEMENT:
      (121) (a)      [To whom] can I send this letter —?
      (121) (b)      [About what] are they quarrelling —?
      (121) (c)      [In which book] did you read about it —?
    • 2014 June 1, “Net Neutrality”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 5, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
      I love this girl. “On which I can get my hands” — even in her darkest moment, she cannot bring herself to end a sentence with a preposition.
  2. (grammar, broad sense) An adposition.
  3. (obsolete) A proposition; an exposition; a discourse.
    • 1811 [1516], Robert Fabyan, edited by Sir Henry Ellis, The New Chronicles of England and France‎[1], page 116:
      […] he made a longe preposicion & oracion cōcernynge yͤ allegiaūce which he exortyd his lordes to owe
Hypernyms
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Hyponyms
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Coordinate terms
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Derived terms
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terms derived from preposition (noun)
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terms related to preposition (noun)
Translations
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See also

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Etymology 2

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From pre- +‎ position.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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preposition (third-person singular simple present prepositions, present participle prepositioning, simple past and past participle prepositioned)

  1. (sometimes proscribed) Alternative spelling of pre-position.
    It is important to preposition the material before turning on the machine.
Translations
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Finnish

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Noun

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preposition

  1. genitive singular of prepositio

Interlingua

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Noun

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preposition (plural prepositiones)

  1. (grammar) A word that is used in conjunction with a noun or pronoun in order to form a phrase.

Swedish

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Noun

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preposition c

  1. a preposition (part of speech)

Declension

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Declension of preposition
nominative genitive
singular indefinite preposition prepositions
definite prepositionen prepositionens
plural indefinite prepositioner prepositioners
definite prepositionerna prepositionernas
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References

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