preter-prefix

Etymology: < classical Latin praeter- past, by, use as prefix of praeter (adverb and preposition) past, by, beyond, above, more than, in addition to, besides < prae before (see pre- prefix) + -ter , suffix forming adverbs (after inter between, among: see inter- prefix).In classical Latin praeter- was prefixed only to verbs and their derivative nouns and adjectives, as e.g. praetercurrere to run by or past, praetergredī to step or march past, to surpass (see pretergress v.), praeterīre to go or pass by, omit, pass over, pass away (in time) (see preterite adj. and n.), praeteriēns passing (see preterient adj.), praeteritus past (see preterite adj.), praeteritiō a passing by or over (see preterition n.), praeterlābī to glide or slip by (see preterlabent adj.), praetermittere to let go by, omit, overlook (see pretermit v.), praetermissiō omission (see pretermission n.), etc. Most of the 15th- and 16th-cent. English examples ultimately derive from this type, either as French and Latin loans or as adaptations of Latin words. The earliest is pretermit v. (late 15th cent.); subsequently compare e.g. a small group of early 16th-cent. adaptations of Latin grammatical terms (preterimperfect adj., preterperfect adj., preterpluperfect adj.), and also the late 16th-cent. loans pretermission n., pretergress v., as well as the 17th-cent. loans preterition n., pretervection n. In post-classical Latin, adjectives began to be formed after classical Latin phrases with praeter preposition + noun, e.g. praeternaturalis preternatural adj., after classical Latin praeter nātūram , praeternecessarius (c1255 in Albertus Magnus; c1375, 1378 in British sources), after classical Latin praeter necessārium beyond the necessary. The number of English words which are adaptations of such Latin adjectives is small, the earliest example being preternatural adj. (late 16th cent.). This type is more important as a model for a large number of (chiefly rare and ad hoc) formations within English, which are found from the early 17th cent., apparently earliest in pretererogation n. , subsequently in preternotorious adj. (first half of the 17th cent.), in a group of words first attested in the mid 17th cent. (preterlegal adj., preternative adj., preterplurality n., preterpolitical adj., preter-regular adj., preter-royal adj.), and subsequent formations such as preterintentional adj. , preterscriptural adj. , preterseasonable adj. , etc. Another wave of such formations within English dates from the first half of the 19th cent. onwards; compare e.g. preterhuman adj., preternuptial adj., pretercanine adj., etc. The more important adjectives, and derivatives from words already in Latin, are treated as headwords.