proto-

proto-

See also: proto, Proto, protó, and pro to

English

Alternative forms

• prot- (chemistry)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combination form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹəʊ.təʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹoʊ.toʊ/, [pɹoʊ.ɾoʊ]

Prefix

proto-

1. first
2. (linguistics, genetics) most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of

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

3. (inorganic chemistry) See protosalt.
4. (chemistry) Relating to protons and/or positive charge.

Synonyms

• arch-, archi-, archo- (sometimes synonymous)
• ur-

Coordinate terms

• deutero-, deuter-
• trito-, trit-
• tetarto-, tetart-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with proto-

• protocarbonate
• protosymbol
• protosymbolic
• protosymbolism

words in which it has the meaning "first"

• protoethics
• protophysics
• protoplasm
• prototype
• protoindustrial
• protozoon

in linguistics, proto-languages

• Proto-Baltic
• Proto-Celtic
• Proto-Czech
• Proto-Germanic
• Proto-Greek
• Proto-Indo-Aryan
• Proto-Indo-Iranian
• Proto-Indo-European
• Proto-Italic
• Proto-Kiranti
• proto-language
• Proto-Norse
• Proto-Oceanic
• Proto-Pontic
• Proto-Semitic
• Proto-Slavic
• Proto-Uralic

Translations

first

Chinese: Mandarin: 原- (yuán-) Czech: proto- Esperanto: pra- (eo) Finnish: ensi-, proto- French: proto- (fr) Galician: proto- (gl) German: ur- (de) Malay: proto- (ms), purba- Polish: pra- (pl) Russian: прото- (ru) (proto-)

(linguistics) ancestor of a family of languages

Bengali: প্রত্ন- (prôtnô-) Chinese: Cantonese: 原始 (jyun4 ci2) Mandarin: 原始 (zh) (Yuánshǐ) Min Nan: 原始 (zh-min-nan) (Goân-sí) Czech: pra- (cs) Esperanto: pra- (eo) Finnish: kanta- (fi) French: proto- (fr) Galician: proto- (gl) German: ur- (de) Hungarian: ős- (hu), alap- (hu) Russian: пра- (ru) (pra-) Turkish: proto- (tr), ana- (tr), ön-

chemistry

Polish: proto- (pl)

Anagrams

• Porto, Topor, Troop, porto, porto-, proot, troop, tropo, tropo-

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French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos).

Prefix

proto-

1. proto-

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Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

Prefix

proto-

1. proto-

Usage notes

• Also prot- before a vowel.

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with proto-

Anagrams

• -tropo, porto, portò, potrò, tropo

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Latvian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

Prefix

proto-

1. proto- (initial, first, original)

Usage notes

• Also prot- before a vowel

Derived terms

Latvian terms prefixed with proto-

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Polish

Etymology

Derived from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈprɔ.tɔ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔtɔ
• Syllabification: pro‧to

Prefix

proto-

1. (chemistry) proto-

   ‎proto- + ‎-liza → ‎protoliza

Derived terms

Polish terms prefixed with proto-

See also

• pra-

Further reading

• proto- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos) "first", superlative of πρό (pró) "before".

Prefix

proto-

1. proto-

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with proto-

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Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

Prefix

proto-

1. proto-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with proto-

Further reading

• “proto-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014