prefecture

See also: préfecture

English

Alternative forms

• præfecture (archaic)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiˌfɛkt͡ʃəɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːfɛkt͡ʃə/, /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.
   • 2021 April 30, Tom Daly, “China graft watchdog probes governor of emerging aluminium hub”, in Richard Chang, editor, Reuters‎^[1], archived from the original on 06 July 2023, ALUMINUM:

     The top anti-corruption watchdog in Southwest China’s Yunnan province said on Friday the governor of the burgeoning aluminium hub of Wenshan had been placed under investigation.
     Zhang Xiulan, who has been governor of Wenshan prefecture since March 2015, is suspected of “grave violations of discipline and the law,” the Yunnan Province Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement, without elaborating.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• autonomous prefecture
• prefectural (adjective)
• prefecture-level city, prefecture-level municipality
• sub-prefecture

 

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
• Chagatai: حكيملك‎ (hakîmlik)
• Dutch: prefectuur (nl) f
• Finnish: prefektuuri (fi)
• Gagauz: valilik
• German: Präfektur (de) f
• Latin: praefectūra f
• Lithuanian: prefektūra f
• Moore: perfɛktɩɩre
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prefektur n

  Nynorsk: prefektur n

• Ottoman Turkish: تولیه‎ (tevliye), متولّیلك‎ (mütevellîlik), ریاست‎ (riyâset), سنجاق‎ (sandjâq)
• 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
• Chagatai: حكيملك‎ (hakîmlik)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 郡 (zh) (jùn) (historical Chinese commanderies); 地區／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／县 (zh) (xiàn) (small prefectures in other countries)

• Dutch: prefectuur (nl) f
• Finnish: prefektuuri (fi)
• French: préfecture (fr) f
• Gagauz: valilik
• 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

• Ottoman Turkish: تولیه‎ (tevliye), متولّیلك‎ (mütevellîlik), ریاست‎ (riyâset), سنجاق‎ (sandjâq)
• Polish: prefektura (pl)
• Portuguese: prefeitura (pt) f
• Romanian: prefectură (ro)
• Russian: префекту́ра (ru) f (prefektúra)
• Spanish: prefectura (es) f
• Swedish: prefektur (sv) c
• Uyghur: ۋىلايەت‎ (wilayet)
• Vietnamese: tỉnh (vi) (省)

References

• “prefecture”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.