preoccupy [ pre- = beforehand 事先；occupy v. 占據(jù)→]v. ① occupy beforehand 先占，先取 /Our favourite seats have been preoccupied. 我們的最想要位子巳被人家先占去了。②take up all the attention 使全神貫注，迷住 / She was preoccupied with the thoughts of getting to London. 她一心想著去倫敦的事兒。 preoccupation n. 先占，先取；全神貫注

prepay [ pre- = beforehand 預先；pay v. 支付→]v. pay in advance 預付 / He prepaid the shipping charges to make sure the package would arrive on time. 他預付了貨船運費以保證貨包按時到達。

prepayable a. 可預付的

下面回過頭來分析幾個由原生前綴pre-與詞根結(jié)合的詞。

preamble [pre- = before 前，amble = to walk 走“walking before 居于前面”→] n. introduction to a speech or writing 開場白；序言/ This is a long preamble of a tale. 這個故事說來話長。

preambulate v. 作序言或緒論

precede [pre- = before 前；ced = to go 走；-e →] v. go or come before in order, place or time先于；位于…之前；比…領(lǐng)先/ She preceded me into the room. 她比我先進房間。

precedence n. 領(lǐng)先；在先；優(yōu)先 

precedent a. 在前的；優(yōu)先的 n. 先例