Proto- Definition
prōtō, prōtə
prefix
First in time; earliest.
Protolithic.
American Heritage
First formed; primitive; original.
Protohuman.
American Heritage
Being a form of a language that is the ancestor of a language or group of related languages.
Proto-Germanic.
American Heritage
Having the least amount of a specified element or radical.
Protoporphyrin.
American Heritage
Wiktionary
affix
First in time, original, primitive.
Protoplast.
Webster's New World
First in importance, principal, chief.
Protonotary.
Webster's New World
Prehistoric or original.
Proto-Germanic.
Webster's New World
On the way to becoming the (specified) thing or kind of person.
Proto-suburbia, a proto-terrorist.
Webster's New World
On the way to having the (specified) quality or relationship.
A proto-Cubist painting.
Webster's New World
adjective
Prototypical; preceding the proper beginning of something.
Wiktionary
Origin of Proto-
-
From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (proto-), combination form of πρῶτος (protos, “first"), superlative of πρό (pro, “before").
From Wiktionary
Gr prōto- < prōtos, first < IE *pṛto- < base *pro-, early, ahead > L pro-, Gr pro-
From Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th Edition
-
Greek prōto- from prōtos per1 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to proto- using the buttons below.