prefecture
/ˈpɹiˌfɛkt͡ʃəɹ/noun
prefecture is spelled P-R-E-F-E-C-T-U-R-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prefecture means “The office or position of a prefect” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prefecture is prefectures.
How many letters and syllables are in prefecture?
| Letters | 10: P-R-E-F-E-C-T-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 23,253rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prefecture?
Prefecture appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd 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 prefecture?
- UK /ˈpɹiːfɛkt͡ʃə/
- UK /ˈpɹiːfɛktjʊə/
- US /ˈpɹiˌfɛkt͡ʃəɹ/
Prefecture has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sumxr-prefecture.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prefecture
- prefectures plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prefecture mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The office or position of a prefect.
- 2
The jurisdiction of a prefect; the region administered by a prefect, especially as a translation of certain French, Chinese, and Japanese administrative divisions.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prefecture in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Präfektur |
| Spanish | prefectura |
| French | préfecture |
| Portuguese | prefeitura |
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 prefecture come from?
Borrowed from Middle French préfecture, from Latin praefectūra. Equivalent to prefect + -ure. As an East Asian administrative division, a calque of Chinese 府 (fǔ) and 郡 (jùn), also used to describe 縣 /县 (xian, “county”) and 州 (zhou, “province”) in some eras.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).