proto-
prefixUK /ˈpɹəʊ.təʊ/ · US /pɹoʊ.toʊ/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combination form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).
9 senses
1
Morpheme An early, primitive stage of development.
- protophysics, protometal, protoword
- I had heard of Caturday when I wrote the piece, but I’d understood that it was a proto-lolcats practice that was different from the actual lolcats meme.2007 July 16, Lev Grossman, “Lolcats Addendum: Where I Got the Story Wrong”, in TIME, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2016:
1 more example
- In many ways, both good and bad, he was a proto-Justin Bieber—a teenage dream to be bought and sold, with what would turn out to be very little regard for his own humanity.2022 November 6, Emma Garland, “Aaron Carter was the millennium’s bubblegum bad boy – and the victim of a rapacious music industry”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 19 Apr 2023:
2
Morpheme Original, older.
- protograph, protolacteal, prototype, protoplasm
3
Morpheme, Numeral, Ordinal First in order; which stage is first.
- protogynous, protandrous
4
Morpheme Primary.
- protoderm, protocneme
5
Biology, Genetics, Human sciences, Linguistics, Medicine, Natural sciences, Sciences Morpheme Most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of.
- All Indo-European languages from Albanian to Zazaki are descended from Proto-Indo-European.
6
Chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Morpheme A minimal proportion of a particular substance when in a combination. See protosalt.
- protoxide, protosulfide, protiodide
7
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Morpheme Relating to protons and/or positive charge.
- protophilic, protolysis
- proto-calcium; proto-magnesium
- Derived terms
28 terms
protocarbonate, protosymbol, protosymbolic, protosymbolism, protoethics, protoindustrial, protophysics, protoplasm, prototype, protozoon, Proto-Baltic, Proto-Celtic, Proto-Czech, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Greek, Proto-Indo-Aryan, Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Indo-Iranian, Proto-Italic, Proto-Kiranti, proto-language, Proto-Norse, Proto-Oceanic, Proto-Pontic, Proto-Semitic, Proto-Slavic, Proto-Turkic, Proto-Uralic