# proto-
## English
### Alternative forms

* prot- (chemistry)
* Proto- (proper names of protolanguages and their associated people)

### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combination form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈpɹəʊ.təʊ/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /pɹoʊ.toʊ/, [pɹoʊ.ɾoʊ]

### Prefix

proto-
* An early, primitive stage of development.
    protophysics, protometal, protoword
** 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: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.
* Original, older.
    protograph, protolacteal, prototype, protoplasm
* (ordinal number) First in order; which stage is first.
    protogynous, protandrous
* Primary.
    protoderm, protocneme
* (linguistics, genetics) Most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of.
    All Indo-European languages from Albanian to Zazaki are descended from Proto-Indo-European.
* (inorganic chemistry) A minimal proportion of a particular substance when in a combination. See protosalt.
    protoxide, protosulfide, protiodide
* (chemistry) Relating to protons and/or positive charge.
    protophilic, protolysis
* (anatomy) Anterior.
    prototroch, protoconid, protoconule

#### Synonyms

* (primitive): atelo-
* (original): ur-
* (first stage): eka-
* (primary): arch-, archi-, archo-
* (common ancestor): cen-
* (minimal): meio-
* (anterior): antero-

#### Coordinate terms

* deutero-, deuter-
* trito-, trit-
* tetarto-, tetart-
* eteo- (linguistics)

#### Derived 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

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* Troop, poort, porto-, porto, Topor, tropo, tropo-, troop, proot, Porto

## Danish
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), from πρῶτος (prôtos).

### Prefix

proto-
* proto- (initial, first, original)
    Synonym: ur-

#### Usage notes

* Also prot- before a vowel

#### Derived terms
## French
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos).

### Prefix

proto-
* proto-

## Italian
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pro.to/
* Hyphenation: pro‧to-

### Prefix

proto-
* proto-

#### Usage notes

* Also prot- before a vowel.

#### Derived terms
### Anagrams

* -tropo, porto, portò, potrò, tropo

## Latvian
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

### Prefix

proto-
* proto- (initial, first, original)

#### Usage notes

* Also prot- before a vowel

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

Derived from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /prɔ.tɔ/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔtɔ
* Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

### Prefix

proto-
* (chemistry) proto-
    ‎proto- + ‎-liza → ‎protoliza

#### Derived terms
### See also

* pra-

### Further reading

* proto- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos) "first", superlative of πρό (pró) "before".

### Prefix

proto-
* proto-

#### Derived terms
## Romanian
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos) "first", superlative of πρό (pró) "before".

### Prefix

proto-
* proto-

#### Derived terms
## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), combining form of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”), superlative of πρό (pró, “before”).

### Prefix

proto-
* proto-

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* “proto-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10