Literary notes about pre (AI summary)
The prefix “pre” is employed in literature to denote a sense of priority or precedence in various dimensions—temporal, qualitative, and hierarchical. It is used to situate a subject before a significant historical, cultural, or conceptual marker, as seen in examples ranging from descriptions of periods (pre-Pāṇinean [1], pre-Reformation [2], pre-historic times [3]) to qualities that elevate a person or idea (pre-eminent courage [4][5], intellectual pre-intellectuality [6], and even pre-ordained destiny [7][8]). Additionally, “pre” can suggest an inherent state or condition, whether referring to an early experience or an enduring quality, as in pre-existent ideas or pre-natal conditions [9][10]. Thus, its flexible usage allows authors to subtly assert temporal relationships, establish historical contexts, or highlight superior attributes, making it a powerful linguistic tool in literary expression.
- But the most important information we have of pre-Pāṇinean grammar is that found in Yāska’s work.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell - The furniture and accessories of the altar in pre-Reformation times were numerous.
— from English Villages by P. H. Ditchfield - Before Buddhism came, Japan was pre-historic.
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis - In all things requiring endurance, fortitude, and patient diligence, the guerrilla period has been pre-eminent.
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount - The bell was about to strike, and it was a matter of absolute and pre-eminent necessity that every body should look well at his watch.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - The type was pre-intellectual, archaic, and would have seemed so even to the cave-dwellers.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams - — The pre-existence and the immortality of the soul are assumed.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - But the admission of the pre-existence of ideas, and therefore of the soul, is at variance with this.
— from Phaedo by Plato - For this reason we revert from time to time to the pre-natal existence, that is, to the intra-uterine existence.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - In other words it declares the absolute pre-existence of the Son.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot
