Meanings
plural praetors · plural praetores
- The title designating a Roman administrative official whose role changed over time:
- historyAn annually-elected curule magistrate, subordinate to the consuls in provincial administration, and who performed some of their duties; numbering initially only one, later two (either of the praetor urbānus (“urban praetor”) or the praetor peregrīnus (“peregrine praetor”)), and eventually eighteen.
Synonyms & antonyms
Roman office
nounan annually elected magistrate of the ancient Roman Republic
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraetor“leader”, “commander”, “magistrate”
- Middle Frenchpreteur
- Anglo-Normanpretour
- Middle Englishpretour
- Englishpraetor
From Middle English pretour, pretor, from the Anglo-Norman pretour, pretore, the Middle French preteur (from the Old French pretor; compare the Modern French préteur), and their etymon, the Classical Latin praetor (“leader”, “commander”, “magistrate”); the Latin praetor being contracted from *praeitor (“one who goes before”), from praeeō (“to go before”), from prae (“before”) + eō (“to go”); compare the Italian pretore, the Portuguese pretor, and the Spanish pretor.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek στρατηγός
- στρατηγός (stratēgós)Roman administrative official
Danish prætor
- prætorRoman administrative official
Finnish preettori, preetori
- preettoriRoman administrative official
- preetoriRoman administrative official
French préteur
- préteurRoman administrative official
German Prätor
- PrätorRoman administrative official
Italian pretore
- pretoreRoman administrative official
Japanese 法務官
- 法務官 (hōmukan)Roman administrative official
Polish pretor
- pretorRoman administrative official
Portuguese pretor
- pretorRoman administrative official
Russian претор
- претор (pretor)Roman administrative official
Spanish pretor
- pretorRoman administrative official
Swedish pretor, praetor
- pretorRoman administrative official
- praetorRoman administrative official
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with praetor
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
praetor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/praetor
“praetor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/praetor. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “praetor,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/praetor.
Source: praetor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.