Prefect : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: Prefect	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for Prefect
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
prefect n a chief officer or chief magistrate; "the prefect of Paris police"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Prefect \Pre"fect\, n. [L. praefectus, fr. praefectus, p. p. of praeficere to set over; prae before + facere to make: cf. F. pr[82]fet.] 1. A Roman officer who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc.; as, the prefect of the aqueducts; the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guard, of provisions; the pretorian prefect, who was commander of the troops guarding the emperor's person. 2. A superintendent of a department who has control of its police establishment, together with extensive powers of municipal regulation. [France] --Brande & C. 3. In the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, a title of certain dignitaries below the rank of bishop. {Apostolic prefect} (R. C. Ch.), the head of a mission, not of episcopal rank. --Shipley.