Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRE, a. [PRE-; an English prefix, is the L. præ, before, probably a contracted word; Russ. pred. It expresses priority of time or rank. It may be radically the same as the Italian proda, the prow of a ship; prode, profit, also valiant, whence prowess, from some root signifying to advance. It sometimes signifies beyond, and may be rendered very, as in prepotent.]