http://wordie.org/words/preface Comments for the word 'Preface' http://wordie.org http://wordie.org/words/preface#comments We all know that pre- means 'before'… so a preface must be something that is 'before the face'. But that doesn't seem right, and a glance in the nearest etymological dictionary meakes it clear that the face part of the word is misleading. 'Preface' comes from an early French form of Latin præfatio, a 'saying beforehand'. A more accurate form in English of the Latin word would therefore have been prefation, the -fation deriving ultimately from the Latin verb fari, fatus 'speak, say'. That same Latin verb leads to other English words: when we talk about what fate has in store for us, for example, we mean 'what has been "spoken" by the gods'. — Leslie Dunkling Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:31:58 +0000 http://wordie.org/words/preface#comments