Present

How to spell present

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce present

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does present mean?

1. nounA thing given to someone as a gift.
2. nounThe period of time now occurring, as opposed to the past or future.
3. adjectiveExisting or being in a particular place, or current in time.
4. verbTo formally give, show, or introduce something to others.

Present in a sentence

• noun

  She wrapped the birthday present in gold paper.

• noun

  The therapist encouraged her to focus on the present rather than old regrets.

• adjective

  All the directors were present at the annual meeting.

• verb

  She will present the quarterly results to the board on Friday.

• noun

  He saved for months to buy his daughter a present.

• noun

  Historians study the past to understand the present.

Where does present come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin praesens, the present participle of praeesse, which combined prae meaning 'before' or 'in front' with esse meaning 'to be', so the literal sense was 'being before someone, at hand, in view'. It travelled into English through Old French as 'present' around the 1200s, carrying the idea of something or someone right here in the current moment. The notion of a gift grew from the polite phrase of placing a thing 'before' a person, that is, presenting it to them, so the 'gift' meaning and the 'here and now' meaning share the very same root. The verb developed a different stress, falling on the second syllable, while the noun and adjective keep the stress on the first; this is why 'present' is one of those words read two ways. The same prae- and esse parts also sit inside 'represent' and 'essence', a handy reminder of why the spelling keeps both the e in 'pre-' and the s in '-sent'.

How the word is built

• prae- (before)
• -sent (from esse, to be) -> literally 'being before, at hand'