preceptor

• præceptor (archaic)
• præceptour (obsolete, rare)
• preceptour (obsolete)

From Middle English preceptor, preceptur, from Latin praeceptor (“commander; instructor”), from the verb praecipiō + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from prae- (“pre-, fore-: before”) + capiō (“to take; to get, to take in, to understand”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈsɛp.tə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiˌsɛp.tɚ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈsep.tə/

preceptor (plural preceptors)

1. A teacher or tutor. [from 15th c.]
   • c. 1793, Edward Gibbon, Memoirs, Penguin, published 1990, page 64:

     A man who had thought so much on the subjects of language and education was surely no ordinary preceptor.

   • 1905, George Bernard Shaw, The author's apology from Mrs. Warren's Profession, page 61:

     We shall resume our studies later on; but just now I am tired of playing the preceptor; and the eager thirst of my pupils for improvement does not console me for the slowness of their progress.

2. (historical) The head of a preceptory of Knights Templar. [from 15th c.]
3. (medicine, chiefly US) A doctor who gives practical training to medical students, nurses etc. [from 19th c.]

   Coordinate term: orientee

• preceptress
• preceptorship

• perceptor

Borrowed from Latin praeceptor (“teacher”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈprɛt͡sɛptor]
• Hyphenation: pre‧cep‧tor
• Rhymes: -or

preceptor

1. (dated) preceptor (a teacher or tutor)

   Synonyms: tanító, segédtanító, házitanító, nevelő

• preceptor in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

• preceptur

preceptor (plural preceptors)

1. preceptor

Learned borrowing from Latin praeceptor (“commander; instructor”).

• IPA^(key): /prɛˈt͡sɛp.tɔr/
• Rhymes: -ɛptɔr
• Syllabification: pre‧cep‧tor

preceptor m pers (related adjective preceptorski)

1. (dated) preceptor (a teacher or tutor)

   Synonyms: nauczyciel, wychowawca

   • 1829 [1778], Ignacy Krasicki, Pan Podstoli (Dzieła; 4), Warszawa: N. Glücksberg, page 108:

     Przyszedł czas nauk, sprowadzono guwernera Francuza, preceptora Szwajcara, i dwóch metrów, Matematyki i tańca.

     The time of the sciences came, a French tutor was brought in, a Swiss preceptor, and two metres, maths and dance.

   • 1917, Kazimierz Chłędowski (Kalasanty Kruk), Historie neapolitańskie. Wiek XIV–XVIII. Z 34 ilustracjami‎^[1], Kraków—Lwów: Gebethner i Wolff, page 443:

     Książe preceptor wpoił przede[ ]wszystki[e]m swemu wychowańcowi przepisy, czego się w życiu wystrzegać powinien, […].

     The prince preceptor first of all instilled in his pupil the rules, of what he should avoid in life, […].

   • 1996, Gomulicka, Barbara, editor, Pisarze polskiego oświecenia, →ISBN, page 142:

     […] ksiądz Popławski, preceptor młodszego brata Jana […]

     […] priest Popławski, preceptor to his younger brother Jan […]

The nominative/vocative plural preceptorowie is less common compared to preceptorzy.

• preceptor in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• “preceptor”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish], 2022

Borrowed from French précepteur, from Latin praeceptor.

preceptor m (plural preceptori)

1. preceptor, private tutor

Borrowed from Latin praeceptor.

• IPA^(key): /pɾeθebˈtoɾ/ [pɾe.θeβ̞ˈt̪oɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /pɾesebˈtoɾ/ [pɾe.seβ̞ˈt̪oɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pre‧cep‧tor

preceptor m (plural preceptores, feminine preceptora, feminine plural preceptoras)

1. preceptor
2. (now chiefly Latin America) teacher
   • 1875, Benito Pérez Galdós, “chapter 16”, in 7 de Julio:

     Bajaba sí a la clase, puntual como un reloj; pero no tomaba las lecciones, ni reprendía a los chicos, y la palmeta se cubría de polvo en un rincón de la mesa. El preceptor absolutista no podía apartar el pensamiento de la tremenda imagen negra de su responsabilidad y castigo […]

     He did go down for the class, like clockwork, but he wouldn't go through the lessons, neither would he rebuke the boys, and the cane was gathering dust in the corner of the table. The absolutist teacher couldn't shake off the thought of the might dark image of his responsibility and punishment […]

• “preceptor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024