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proto-

  1. first in time, original, primitive: protoplast
  2. first in importance, principal, chief: protonotary
  3. prehistoric or original: said of a people or language: Proto-Germanic
    1. on the way to becoming the (specified) thing or kind of person: proto-suburbia, a proto-terrorist
    2. on the way to having the (specified) quality or relationship: a proto-Cubist painting
  4. Chem.
    1. being that member of a series of compounds having the lowest proportion of the (specified) element or radical: protoxide
    2. being the parent form of a (specified) substance

See proto- in American Heritage Dictionary 4

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