prefatory
/ˈpɹɛfəˌtɔɹi/adjective
prefatory is spelled P-R-E-F-A-T-O-R-Y: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 111,684th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, prefatory means “Serving as a preface or prelude; introductory, preliminary” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prefatory?
| Letters | 9: P-R-E-F-A-T-O-R-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 14 million words; the 111,684th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prefatory?
Prefatory appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 111,684th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prefatory?
- UK /ˈpɹɛfət(ə)ɹi/
- US /ˈpɹɛfəˌtɔɹi/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prefatory.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prefatory
- more prefatory comparative
- most prefatory superlative
- præfatory
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prefatory mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Serving as a preface or prelude; introductory, preliminary.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prefatory in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense introductory:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | préfatoire |
| German | präponierend, vorangestellt |
| Portuguese | prefatório |
| Spanish | introductorio, prefatorio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prefatory come from?
From Medieval Latin *praefator + -ory (“agent”), from Medieval Latin prefatia (whence preface), for classical Latin praefatio (“a saying beforehand”) – see preface for details. Note that this is borrowed from Latin, not derived in English from preface, as in occasional misspelling *prefecatory.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).