'Pre-nominal letters' are a
title which is placed ''before'' the name of a person as distinct from a
post-nominal title which is placed ''after'' the name. Examples of pre-nominal titles, for instance professional titles include:
Doctor,
Eur Ing, Ir (
Ingenieur) and
Professor; whilst other common social titles are
Mr.,
Master,
Ms.,
Mrs. and
Miss. Pre-nominal letters are generally
social, but can be
professional in nature.
Academic degrees
In some
Continental European countries all
academic degrees were traditionally pre-nominal. Examples of pre-nominal academic degrees, for instance in the German speaking countries include:
Dipl.-Ing. (Engineer's Degree),
Dipl.-Kfm. (Master's degree in management), ''Dipl.-Phys.'' (Master's degree in physics), ''Dr.-Ing.'' (German doctorate in engineering), ''Ing.'' (Awarded by the Authorities of the Lander-Law called Ingenieur Gesetz), ''Dr.med.'' (German
M.D.) and ''Mag.'' (Austrian Master's degree (Magister)) in all disciplines except engineering). Due to the
Bologna process most of these pre-nominal degrees will be replaced by post-nominal Bachelor's and Master's degrees (but people who have held academic degrees before the Bologna process, may also use the pre-nominal academic degrees).
See also
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Suffix
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Title