preposition — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Any of a class of non-inflecting words and multiword terms typically employed to connect a following noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word: a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word.

   Usage

   • strict-sense

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   322. The parts of speech which are neither declined nor conjugated, are called by the general name of particles. 323. They are adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

   And in (121) below, we see that when a wh-NP is used as the Object of a Preposition, the whole Prepositional Phrase can undergo WH MOVEMENT: (121) (a) [To whom] can I send this letter —? (121) (b) [About what] are they quarrelling —? (121) (c) [In which book] did you read about it —?

   I love this girl. “On which I can get my hands” — even in her darkest moment, she cannot bring herself to end a sentence with a preposition.

2. An adposition.

   Usage

   • broadly

3. A proposition; an exposition; a discourse.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   […] he made a longe preposicion & oracion cōcernynge yͤ allegiaūce which he exortyd his lordes to owe

Noun

1. a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word

   Broader terms

   function wordclosed-class word

2. (linguistics) the placing of one linguistic element before another (as placing a modifier before the word it modifies in a sentence or placing an affix before the base to which it is attached)

   Broader terms

   placeposition