The term president was initially introduced in the English language in the year 1382, a period when the concept of presidents as we know them today did not exist. Back then, a president referred to the appointed governor of a province. Over time, a new definition emerged, referring to an “appointed or elected head of a gathering”, which eventually evolved into the modern political sense of the word. Derived from Old French, the term president originates from the Latin present active participle praesidens, which means “one who governs” or “one who supervises”. More literally, it translates to “one who sits before”, as it combines the prefix prae-, meaning “before”, with the verb sedere, meaning “to sit”. This etymology makes sense as governors are required to preside over meetings by sitting before others. Notably, prae- and sedere trace back to Proto-Indo-European roots per and sed respectively, both with the same meanings.
