Presents

How to spell presents

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce presents

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does presents mean?

1. nounItems given to someone as gifts, especially on a special occasion.
2. verbFormally shows, offers, or introduces something to others (third person singular).

Presents in a sentence

• noun

  The children opened their birthday presents after breakfast.

• verb

  The manager presents the quarterly figures at every board meeting.

• noun

  She wrapped all the presents in gold paper the night before.

• verb

  This report presents a clear case for hiring more staff.

Where does presents come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin praesens, the present participle of praeesse, meaning 'to be before' or 'to be at hand', built from prae 'before' and esse 'to be'. The literal idea was of something placed before you or set in your presence, which is why the noun came to mean a gift: a present is literally something brought before a person and offered to them. English took the word through Old French in the 1300s, where presenter meant 'to bring into someone's presence' or 'to give'. The verb 'to present' and the noun 'a present' therefore share one root, and the stress simply shifts depending on use: gifts are PRESents while the action of showing is preSENTS. The same family gave us 'presence', 'represent', and 'presentation', all carrying that sense of being set before someone.

How the word is built

• prae- (before)
• -sent (from esse: to be, being)
• -s (plural / third-person verb ending)