preposition
/ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.62 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
An adposition.
verb
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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 —?"
- "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."
- "[…] he made a longe preposicion & oracion cōcernynge yͤ allegiaūce which he exortyd his lordes to owe"
- "It is important to preposition the material before turning on the machine."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
intransitive preposition
phrasal preposition
prepositional phrase
preposition of place
preposition of time