"pertaining to or belonging to a prefecture," 1807, from prefecture + -al (1).
Entries linking to prefectural
prefecture n.
"administrative district, office, or jurisdiction of a prefect," mid-15c., from Old French préfecture (13c.) and directly from Latin praefectura, or assembled locally from prefect + -ure. Also used as the English equivalent to Chinese fu, "an administrative division consisting of several districts" (1885).
-al 1
suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).