protagonist

protagonist

See also: Protagonist

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”).

Surface analysis prot- (“first”) +‎ agonist (“combatant, participant”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈtæ.ɡə.nɪst/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹoʊˈtæ.ɡə.nɪst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

protagonist (plural protagonists)

1. (authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.

   Antonym: antagonist

2. A leading person in a contest; a principal performer.
3. (proscribed) An advocate or champion of a cause or course of action.

Usage notes

The use of protagonist to mean a proponent or supporter of a cause is a 20th century development that may have been influenced by the misunderstanding that the first syllable of the word is the prefix pro-, meaning favouring.[1] This usage is widely considered to be erroneous.[2][3]

Antonyms

• antagonist

Coordinate terms

• deuteragonist
• tritagonist

Related terms

• agonist
• agonistes

Translations

main character

Arabic: بَطَل‎ m (baṭal), بَطَلَة‎ f (baṭala) Armenian: հերոս (hy) (heros) Belarusian: гало́ўны геро́й m (halóŭny hjerój), гало́ўная гераі́ня f (halóŭnaja hjeraínja) Bulgarian: гла́вен геро́й m (gláven gerój), гла́вна герои́ня m (glávna geroínja) Catalan: protagonista (ca) m or f Chinese: Mandarin: 主角 (zh) (zhǔjué), 主人公 (zh) (zhǔréngōng) Czech: protagonista (cs) m Danish: hovedperson c Dutch: protagonist (nl) m or f Esperanto: ĉefrolulo, ĉefpersono Estonian: nutikas Finnish: päähenkilö (fi), sankari (fi) French: protagoniste (fr) m or f, héros (fr) m, héroïne (fr) f Galician: protagonista (gl) m or f Georgian: მთავარი გმირი (mtavari gmiri), მთავარი პერსონაჟი (mtavari ṗersonaži), მთავარი მოქმედი პირი (mtavari mokmedi ṗiri), პროტაგონისტი (ṗroṭagonisṭi) German: Protagonist (de) m, Protagonistin (de) f, Hauptfigur (de) f, Held (de) m Greek: πρωταγωνιστής (el) m (protagonistís) Hebrew: דְּמוּת רָאשִׁית‎ (he) f (dmut rashít), גיבור \\ גִּבּוֹר‎ (he) m (gibor) Hungarian: főszereplő (hu), főhős (hu) Ido: protagonisto (io) Indonesian: protagonis (id), tokoh utama (id), pemeran utama (id) Italian: protagonista (it) m or f Japanese: 主人公 (ja) (しゅじんこう, shujinkō) Korean: 주인공(主人公) (ko) (ju'in'gong) Malay: protagonis, watak utama Norwegian: Bokmål: hovedperson m, protagonist m Polish: protagonista (pl) m, protagonistka (pl) f, bohater (pl) m Portuguese: protagonista (pt) m or f Romanian: protagonist (ro) m Russian: гла́вный геро́й m (glávnyj gerój), гла́вная герои́ня f (glávnaja geroínja), протагони́ст (ru) m (protagoníst), протагони́стка (ru) f (protagonístka) Spanish: protagonista (es) m or f Swedish: huvudperson (sv) c, protagonist (sv) c Turkish: ana karakter, kahraman (tr) Ukrainian: головни́й геро́й m (holovnýj herój), головна́ герої́ня f (holovná herojínja), протагоні́ст m (protahoníst), протагоні́стка f (protahonístka) Vietnamese: nam chính (男正) (male), nữ chính (女正) (female)

leading person in a contest

Catalan: protagonista (ca) m or f Dutch: hoofdrolspeler (nl) m, hoofdrolspeelster (nl) f Galician: protagonista (gl) m or f Greek: πρωταγωνιστής (el) m (protagonistís) Hebrew: מוֹבִיל‎ (he) m (movil) Hungarian: főszereplő (hu) Malay: protagonis, watak utama Polish: protagonista (pl) m, protagonistka (pl) f Portuguese: protagonista (pt) m or f Spanish: protagonista (es) m or f

advocate

Finnish: esitaistelija, uranuurtaja (fi), edelläkävijä (fi), tienraivaaja Norwegian: Bokmål: protagonist m Portuguese: protagonista (pt) m or f Spanish: protagonista (es) m or f Swedish: förespråkare (sv) c, förkämpe c

References

1. “protagonist”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
2. Pinker, Steven (2014) The Sense of Style, New York, New York: Penguin, →ISBN
3. Feloni, Richard (30 November 2015), “The 58 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases”, in The Independent, Independent Print Limited

Further reading

• protagonist in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• protagonist in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Danish

Noun

protagonist c (singular definite protagonisten, plural indefinite protagonister)

1. (literature) protagonist

   Synonym: hovedperson

Declension

Declension of protagonist

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	protagonist	protagonisten	protagonister	protagonisterne
genitive	protagonists	protagonistens	protagonisters	protagonisternes

Further reading

• “protagonist” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌproː.taː.ɣoːˈnɪst/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pro‧ta‧go‧nist
• Rhymes: -ɪst

Noun

protagonist m (plural protagonisten)

1. protagonist, main character [from 18th c.]
   • 1780, M. C. Curtius, Aristoteles Verhandeling over de dichtkunst, tr. from German, publ. by Arend Fokke Simonsz., page 105.

     Hy voerde nog een perſoon in, en verdeelde het Treurſpel in twee rollen, van welke de eerste Acteur de hoofdrol ſpeelde en daarvan de Protagonist heette;

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   Synonyms: hoofdpersonage, hoofdpersoon

Antonyms

• antagonist

Derived terms

• protagonistisch

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Romanian

Etymology

From French protagoniste.

Noun

protagonist m (plural protagoniști)

1. protagonist

Declension

Declension of protagonist

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) protagonist	protagonistul	(niște) protagoniști	protagoniștii
genitive/dative	(unui) protagonist	protagonistului	(unor) protagoniști	protagoniștilor
vocative	protagonistule		protagoniștilor