preposition : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: preposition	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for preposition
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
preposition n a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word (linguistics) the placing of one linguistic element before another (as placing a modifier before the word it modifies in a sentence or placing an affix before the base to which it is attached)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Preposition \Prep`osi"tion\, n. [L. praepositio, fr. praeponere to place before; prae before + ponere to put, place: cf. F. pr[82]position. See {Position}, and cf. {Provost}.] 1. (Gram.) A word employed to connect a 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; -- so called because usually placed before the word with which it is phrased; as, a bridge of iron; he comes from town; it is good for food; he escaped by running. 2. A proposition; an exposition; a discourse. [Obs.] He made a long preposition* and oration. --Fabyan.