preceptor

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːˌsɛptəɹ/

Noun

preceptor (plural preceptors)

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

Derived terms

• preceptress
• preceptorship

Anagrams

• perceptor

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Romanian

Etymology

From French précepteur, from Latin praeceptor.

Noun

preceptor m (plural preceptori)

1. private tutor

Declension

Declension of preceptor

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) preceptor	preceptorul	(niște) preceptori	preceptorii
genitive/dative	(unui) preceptor	preceptorului	(unor) preceptori	preceptorilor
vocative	preceptorule		preceptorilor

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praeceptor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /pɾeθebˈtoɾ/ [pɾe.θeβ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /pɾesebˈtoɾ/ [pɾe.seβ̞ˈt̪oɾ]

Noun

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

1. preceptor
2. 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 […]

Further reading

• “preceptor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014