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- (protno-)
• 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-

French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos).

Prefix

proto-

1. proto-

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

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-

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

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-

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