preceptor

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) Borrowed 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. The headmaster or principal of a school, especially a private school.
2. A teacher or tutor, especially (US medicine) a supervisor of new trainees.
   • 1905, George Bernard Shaw, The author's apology from Mrs. Warren's Profession, page 61:

     Here I must for the present break off my arduous work of educating the Press. 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.

3. The head of a preceptory of Knights Templar.

Derived terms

• preceptress
• preceptorship

Coordinate terms

• (medical trainee supervisor): orientee

Anagrams

• perceptor

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Spanish

Noun

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

1. preceptor
2. teacher