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proto-

prefix
/ˈpɹəʊ.təʊ/UK/pɹoʊ.toʊ/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *próder. Ancient Greek πρό (pró) Ancient Greek -ᾰτος (-ătos) Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-)lbor. English proto- Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combination form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

  1. learned borrowing from πρωτο-

Definitions

  1. An early, primitive stage of development.

    • protophysics, protometal, protoword
    • I had heard of Caturday when I wrote the piece, but I’d understood that it was a proto-lolcats practice that was different from the actual lolcats meme.
    • In many ways, both good and bad, he was a proto-Justin Bieber—a teenage dream to be bought and sold, with what would turn out to be very little regard for his own humanity.

  2. Original, older.

    • protograph, protolacteal, prototype, protoplasm

  3. First in order

    First in order; which stage is first.

    • protogynous, protandrous
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. Primary.

      • protoderm, protocneme

    2. Most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of.

      • All Indo-European languages from Albanian to Zazaki are descended from Proto-Indo-European.

    3. A minimal proportion of a particular substance when in a combination. See protosalt.

      • protoxide, protosulfide, protiodide

    4. Relating to protons and/or positive charge.

      • protophilic, protolysis

    5. A proto-metal.

      • proto-calcium; proto-magnesium

    6. Anterior.

      • prototroch, protoconid, protoconule

    7. Alternative letter-case form of proto- (“used for proper names of protolanguages and…

      Alternative letter-case form of proto- (“used for proper names of protolanguages and their associated people”).

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for proto-. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA