prefect
/ˈpɹiːfɛkt/ noun B2- An official of Ancient Rome who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc.
- The head of a department in France.
- The head of a county in Albania or Romania.
- The head of a prefecture in Japan.
- A commander.
- A head of a dicastery of the Roman Curia of the Roman Catholic Church.
Plural prefects
From the library
de Blacas moved suddenly towards the baron, but the fright of the courtier pleaded for the forbearance of the statesman; and besides, as matters were, it was much more to his advantage that the prefect of police should triumph over him than that he should humiliate the prefect.
Had Morrel been a more quick-sighted man, or better versed in these matters, he would have been surprised at the king’s procureur answering him on such a subject, instead of referring him to the governors of the prison or the prefect of the department.
Nobody knows better than yourself that the bandits of Corsica are not rogues or thieves, but purely and simply fugitives, driven by some sinister motive from their native town or village, and that their fellowship involves no disgrace or stigma; for my own part, I protest that, should I ever go to Corsica, my first visit, ere even I presented myself to the mayor or prefect, should be to the bandits of Colomba, if I could only manage to find them; for, on my conscience, they are a race of men I admire greatly.”
Montalivet, transmitted to the prefect of Bayonne, mystified by two Greek words, têle, graphein.
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