prefecture

See also: préfecture

English

Alternative forms

• præfecture (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French préfecture, from Latin praefectūra. As an East Asian administrative division, a calque of Chinese 府 (fǔ) and 郡 (jùn), also used to describe 縣 (xian, “county”) and 州 (zhou, “province”) in some eras.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiˌfɛk(t)ʃəɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːfɛktʃə/, /ˈpɹiːfɛktjʊə/

Noun

prefecture (plural prefectures)

1. The office or position of a prefect.
2. The jurisdiction of a prefect; the region administered by a prefect, especially as a translation of certain French, Chinese, and Japanese administrative divisions.

Synonyms

• (Chinese administrative division): jun, fu; chun, foo (obsolete); commandery (some contexts)

Derived terms

• prefectural (adjective)
• prefecture-level city

Related terms

• prefect

Translations

The office of a prefect

• Arabic: مَبْنَى الْوِلَايَة‎ m (mabnā l-wilāya)

  Egyptian Arabic: المحافظة‎ f (il-muḥafẓa), مبنى المحافظة‎ m (mabna l-muḥafẓa), مبنى الولاية‎ m (mabna l-wilāya)

• Catalan: prefectura f
• Dutch: prefectuur (nl) f
• Finnish: prefektuuri (fi)
• German: Präfektur (de) f
• Latin: praefectūra f

• Lithuanian: prefektūra f
• Moore: perfɛktɩɩre
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prefektur n

  Nynorsk: prefektur n

• Romanian: prefectură (ro)
• Russian: префекту́ра (ru) f (prefektúra)
• Spanish: prefectura (es) f
• Turkish: valilik (tr)

The district governed by a prefect

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} prefekturë (sq)
• Arabic: وِلَايَة‎ (ar) f (wilāya)

  Egyptian Arabic: ولاية‎ f (wilāya), محافظة‎ f (muḥafẓa)

• Catalan: prefectura f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 郡 (zh) (jùn) (historical Chinese commanderies); 地區 (zh), 地区 (zh) (dìqū) (of modern Chinese prefectures); 都道府縣, 都道府县 (dūdàofǔxiàn) (of Japanese prefectures); 省 (zh) (shěng) (large prefectures in other countries); 縣 (zh), 县 (zh) (xiàn) (small prefectures in other countries)

• Dutch: prefectuur (nl) f
• Finnish: prefektuuri (fi)
• French: préfecture (fr) f
• German: Präfektur (de) f
• Greek: νομός (el) m (nomós)
• Hebrew: מחוז‎ (he)
• Indonesian: prefektur
• Japanese: 県 (ja) (けん, ken), 府 (ja) (ふ, fu), 都道府県 (ja) (とどうふけん, to-dō-fu-ken) (of Japanese prefectures)

• Khmer: អាណាខេត្ត (aa naa kʰaet)
• Korean: 현(縣) (ko) (hyeon), 도도부현(都道府縣) (dodobuhyeon)
• Latin: praefectūra f
• Lithuanian: prefektūra f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prefektur n

  Nynorsk: prefektur n

• Polish: prefektura (pl)
• Portuguese: prefeitura (pt) f
• Romanian: prefectură (ro)
• Russian: префекту́ра (ru) f (prefektúra)
• Spanish: prefectura (es) f
• Swedish: prefektur (sv) c
• Vietnamese: tỉnh (vi) (省)

References

• “prefecture”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.