Etymology

preface

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Today it means: A beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book, typically serving to contextualize or explain the writing of the book and sometimes to acknowledge others' contributions; especially, such a discussion written by the work's own author. Full definition →

Middle English preface ← Old French preface ← Medieval Latin prefātia
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompraefātiō“a saying beforehand”
  2. Medieval Latin · derived fromprefātia
  3. Old French · derived frompreface
  4. Middle English · inherited frompreface
  5. English todaypreface

Late 14th century, from Middle English preface, prefas, from Old French preface (from which derives the modern French préface), from Medieval Latin prefātia, for classical Latin praefātiō (“a saying beforehand”), from praefor (“to speak beforehand”), from prae- (“beforehand”) + for (“to speak”).

Words from the same roots

Medieval Latinprefātia all →

prefatoryprefatial

Latinpraefātiō all →

forewordprefatory

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.