# pra-
## Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech pra- (“before (in time)”), from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [pra ]

### Prefix

pra-
* great- (removed by one generation from)
    ‎pra- + ‎dědeček → ‎pradědeček (“great-grandfather”)
    ‎pra- + ‎babička → ‎prababička (“great-grandmother”)
* fore- (ancestor)
    ‎pra- + ‎otec → ‎praotec (“forefather”)
    ‎pra- + ‎máti → ‎pramáti (“foremother”)
* primaeval, primary
    ‎pra- + ‎les → ‎prales (“primaeval forest”)
    ‎pra- + ‎člověk → ‎pračlověk (“primaeval man”)
    ‎pra- + ‎hmota → ‎prahmota (“primary matter”)
* (linguistics) proto-
    Synonym: proto-
    ‎pra- + ‎čeština → ‎pračeština (“Proto-Czech”)
    ‎pra- + ‎slovanština → ‎praslovanština (“Proto-Slavic”)
* very, extremely (intensifying the meaning of the original adjective)
    ‎pra- + ‎podivný → ‎prapodivný (“very strange”)
    ‎pra- + ‎malý → ‎pramalý (“extremely small”)

#### Related terms

* (very): prach-

### References

* ↑ Rejzek, Jiří (2015) “pra-”, in Český etymologický slovník [Czech Etymological Dictionary] (in Czech), 3rd (revised and expanded) edition, Praha: LEDA, →ISBN, page 545

### Further reading

* “pra-”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* pra-/prach- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

## Esperanto
### Etymology

Borrowed from Russian пра- (pra-) and Polish pra-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [pra]
* Hyphenation: pra

### Prefix

pra-
* ur-; primitive; primordial; prehistoric
    ‎pra- + ‎arbaro (“forest”) → ‎praarbaro (“primordial forest”)
    ‎pra- + ‎besto (“animal”) → ‎prabesto (“prehistoric animal”)
    ‎pra- + ‎homo (“human being”) → ‎prahomo (“primitive man”)
* fore-
    ‎pra- + ‎patroj (“fathers”) → ‎prapatroj (“forefathers”)
    ‎pra- + ‎ulo (“person”) → ‎praulo (“ancestor”)
* great-
    ‎pra- + ‎avo (“grandfather”) → ‎praavo (“great-grandfather”)
    ‎pra- + ‎onklino (“aunt”) → ‎praonklino (“great-aunt”)
    ‎pra- + ‎nepo (“grandson”) → ‎pranepo (“great-grandson”)

#### Derived terms

* praa (“ancient”)
* praulo (“ancestor”)

## Indonesian
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Javanese pra-, from Sanskrit प्र- (pra-), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pra-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-.

### Prefix

pra-
* pre-, before; earlier in time; beforehand.
    prasekolah ― preschool
    prasejarah ― prehistory
    prakata ― preface

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* “pra-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Malay
### Etymology

There are two theories as to whence the prefix came:
* From pera- from Sanskrit प्र- (pra-) (either via Thai ประ (bprà) or Old Javanese pra-) from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pra-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-; later callibration of spelling in post-independent Malayan and Malaysian standard with Indonesian counterpart which directly borrowed from modern Javanese ꦥꦿ- (pra-)
* Learned borrowing from Latin prae-.
Older Sanskrit loans like perdana (from प्रधान pradhāna) and perkara (from प्रकार prakāra) are more likely to suffix with per-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [pra-]
* Hyphenation: pra-

### Prefix

pra- (Jawi spelling ڤرا‌‌ -)
* Before; earlier in time; beforehand; pre-.
    Antonym: pasca-
    prasekolah ― preschool

#### Derived terms
### References

* ↑ Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “pĕra”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 507
* ↑ Asmah Haji Omar (1978) “The Role of Language Standardisation in the Coining of Technical Terms in Bahasa Malaysia”, in Papers from the Conference on the Standardisation of Asian Languages, Manila, Philippines, December 16-21, 1974‎, page 235: “In this way, such affixes prove that their existence can be regarded as indispensable regardless of their language contexts. Examples of this are -ism, pra- (Latin prae-), pro-, anti-, sub-, supra-, super- etc.”

### Further reading

* “pra-” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

## Old Javanese
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Sanskrit प्र- (pra-), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pra-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-.

#### Prefix

pra-
* a part of.

##### Alternative forms

* par-

##### Descendants

* → Indonesian: pra- (learned)
** → Malay: pra- (learned)

### Etymology 2
#### Prefix

pra-
* Alternative spelling of para-

### Derived terms
## Polish
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pra/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -a
* Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

### Prefix

pra-
* proto-, pre-, ur-
    ‎pra- + ‎porządek → ‎praporządek (“preorder”)
    ‎pra- + ‎język → ‎prajęzyk (“proto-language”)
    ‎pra- + ‎stary → ‎prastary (“ancient”)
* prepended to ancestors before grandparents; great-
    ‎pra- + ‎dziadek → ‎pradziadek (“great-grandfather”)
    ‎pra- + ‎babcia → ‎prababcia (“great-grandmother”)
* prepended to descendants after grandchildren; great-
    ‎pra- + ‎wnuk → ‎prawnuk (“great-grandson”)
    ‎pra- + ‎wnuczka → ‎prawnuczka (“great-granddaughter”)

#### Derived terms
### See also

* proto-

### Further reading

* pra- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

### Prefix

pra- (Cyrillic spelling пра-)
* appended to ancestors before grandparents
    ‎pra- + ‎dȅda → ‎pradeda
    ‎pra- + ‎bȁba → ‎pràbaba
* ur-; primitive; primordial; prehistoric
    ‎pra- + ‎postojbina → ‎prapostojbina (“urheimat”)
    ‎pra- + ‎ìstōrija → ‎praistorija (“prehistory”)

#### Derived terms
### See also

* šukun-
* čukun-

## Slovak
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

### Prefix

pra-
* great- (removed by one generation from)
    ‎pra- + ‎ded → ‎praded
* (linguistics) proto-
    ‎pra- + ‎slovanština → ‎praslovanština

#### Derived terms
## Slovene
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /práː-/

### Prefix

prȃ-
* great- (removed by one generation from)
    ‎pra- + ‎ded → ‎praded
* (linguistics) proto-
    ‎pra- + ‎slovanščina → ‎praslovanščina

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* “pra-”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025