LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

praeses

praeses m or f (genitive praesidis)

Meaning

  1. femininemasculinesitting before (usually to guard or take care of something or someone), presider
  2. femininemasculineprotector, guard, guardian, defender
  3. femininemasculinehead, chief, ruler

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī prōtegit et cūstōdit
praeses -idis (m) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 4

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepraesespraesidēs
genitivepraesidispraesidum
dativepraesidīpraesidibus
accusativepraesidempraesidēs
ablativepraesidepraesidibus
vocativepraesespraesidēs

praesĕs, ĭdis (
I. gen. plur. praesidium, Flor. 2, 17, 16), adj. and subst. [praesideo].
I. Sitting before a thing, to guard, take care of, or direct it; presiding, protecting, guarding, defending: locus, a place of refuge, Plaut. Cas. 5, 1, 11 dub.: dextra, Sen. Med. 247: di praesides imperii, protecting deities, Tac. H. 4, 53.—
II. Subst.: praesĕs, ĭdis, comm.
A. A protector, guard, guardian, defender: ite nunc jam ex praesidio praesides, Plaut. Rud. 4, 4, 7: senatus rei publicae custos, praeses, propugnator, Cic. Sest. 65, 137: patrii Penates, qui huic urbi et rei publicae praesides estis, Cic. Dom. 57, 144: tribunus plebis, quem majores praesidem libertatis custodemque esse voluerunt, id. Agr. 2, 6, 15; Liv. 6, 16.—
B. Transf., in gen., one that presides over, a president, superintendent, head, chief, ruler: praeses belli, i. e. Minerva, Verg. A. 11, 483: vobis per suffragia uti praesides olim, nunc dominos destinatis, Sall. H. 3, 61, 6 Dietsch: provinciarum, governors, Suet. Aug. 23: quorum (praetorum) in provinciis jurisdictionem praesides earum habent, Gai. Inst. 1, 6; cf.: praesidis nomen generale est, eo quod et proconsules et legati Caesaris, et omnes provincias regentes (licet senatores sint) praesides appellentur, Dig. 1, tit. 1.

Origins

From praesideō + -s, from sedeō.

Descendants
  • GermanPräses
  • Dutchpraeses
  • Polishprezesfrom German Präses
  • Scotspreses

In English words that came into English from praeses

  • presidiumpraesidium
  • presidialpraesidialis
  • presidiopraesidium

Quick answers

What does praeses mean in Latin?
praeses, a noun, means “sitting before (usually to guard or take care of something or someone), presider; protector, guard, guardian, defender; head, chief, ruler”.
What is the genitive of praeses?
The genitive singular is praesidis. praeses is masculine, third declension.
Which English words come from praeses?
English words that go back to Latin praeses include presidium, presidio and presidial.