proto-
/ˈpɹəʊ.təʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.23 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
3
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
prefix
An early, primitive stage of development.
prefix
prefix
Most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of.
prefix
A minimal proportion of a particular substance when in a combination. See protosalt.
prefix
Relating to protons and/or positive charge.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "protograph, protolacteal, prototype, protoplasm"
- "protogynous, protandrous"
- "protoderm, protocneme"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *próder. Ancient Greek πρό (pró) Ancient Greek -ᾰτος (-ătos) Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-)lbor. English proto- Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combination form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pɹoʊ.toʊ/
- British English: /ˈpɹəʊ.təʊ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
protocarbonate
protosymbol
protosymbolic
protosymbolism
protoethics
protoindustrial
protophysics
protoplasm
prototype
protozoon