prey

C1 Topic:Animals

US /pɹeɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #4969

Meanings

1

noun
An animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal.

Rabbits are easy prey for foxes and hawks.
2

noun
A person who is easily harmed, cheated, or attacked by someone or something.

Lonely older people can become easy prey for online scammers.
3

verb
To hunt and eat another animal, or to harm and take advantage of someone weaker.

Owls prey on small mammals at night.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with prey

prey on Prepositional verb C1

to exploit people by taking advantage of their weakness or hopes

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an animal that is hunted... quarry

2 noun · a person who is easily... target quarryfair game

Word family

Forms preyedpreyingpreys

Derived forms preyful

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

prey on
to exploit people by taking advantage of their weakness or hopes

Verb + preposition/particle

Simplified etymology

Prey, recorded in Middle English, derives from the Latin word family of praedari “to plunder” and praeda “booty,” which arose from a shortened form of prehendere “to seize.”

Etymology

From Middle English praien, prayen, preyen, partly from the noun and partly from Old French praer, preer, earlier preder, from Late Latin praedō, collateral form of Latin praedor, from praeda (“plunder, booty, loot”) + -ō (verbal suffix). Doublet of prede.

praien Middle English praer Old French praedō la-lat praedor Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# prey

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /pɹeɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 4969

## Meanings
1. An animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal.
2. A person who is easily harmed, cheated, or attacked by someone or something.
3. To hunt and eat another animal, or to harm and take advantage of someone weaker.

## Examples
- Rabbits are easy prey for foxes and hawks.
- Lonely older people can become easy prey for online scammers.
- Owls prey on small mammals at night.

## Derived Forms
- preyful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: praien
- Root: praer
- Root: praedō
- Root: praedor

## Etymology
From Middle English praien, prayen, preyen, partly from the noun and partly from Old French praer, preer, earlier preder, from Late Latin praedō, collateral form of Latin praedor, from praeda (“plunder, booty, loot”) + -ō (verbal suffix). Doublet of prede.

## AI Etymology
Prey comes from Middle English praien, prayen, preyen, partly from the noun and partly from Old French praer, preer, earlier preder, from Late Latin praedō, collateral form of Latin praedor, from praeda (“plunder, booty, loot”) + -ō (verbal suffix). Doublet of prede. The historical chain includes praien (Middle English), praer (Old French), praedō (Late Latin), and praedor (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as preyful. In present use it covers an animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal, a person who is easily harmed, cheated, or attacked by someone or something, and to hunt and eat another animal, or to harm and take advantage of someone weaker.

## Topics
- Animals
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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