Definition of proto(a) in English English dictionary
indicating the first or earliest or original; "`proto' is a combining form in a word like `protolanguage' that refers to the hypothetical ancestor of another language or group of languages
An abjad of twenty-plus acrophonic glyphs, found in Levantine texts of the Late Bronze Age (from ca. the 15th century BCE), by convention taken to last until a cut-off date of 1050 BCE, after which it is called Phoenician
The hypothetical, ancestral proto-language from which the Dravidian languages (which include Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam among others) are descended
The earliest form of the Greek language, the common ancestor of the Greek dialects, including Mycenean and the classical Greek dialects, spoken by the ancestors of the Greeks even before they settled in Greece around 2000 BC
Form of Vulgar Latin immediately preceding diffusion into separate old forms of Romance (eg. Old French, Old Spanish, Old Italian, etc.). Also referred to as Common Romance
The original language, or rather, cluster of dialects, from which descend the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, to include Tibeto-Burman group and the various Chinese languages; the exact phylogenetic relationships remain subject to scholarly debate
A language which is reconstructed by examining similarities in existing languages to try to deduce what a common ancestor language, no longer known, would have been like
(Dilbilim) 1. (noun) The reconstructed language that was the ancestor of the Indo-European languages.2. (adj.) Of, relating to, or being Proto-Indo-European or one of its reconstructed linguistic features
Visual art style of ancient Greece that signaled the reawakening of technical proficiency and conscious creative spirit after the collapse of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, around the 12th century BC. The vocabulary of the style was limited to circles, arcs, triangles, and wavy lines, all derived from Minoan-Mycenaean representations of aquatic and plant life. On pottery, these design elements were carefully placed in horizontal bands, mainly at a vase's shoulder or belly. Its lower portion was usually either left plain or painted in a solid glossy black pigment inherited from Bronze Age artists
A combining form prefix signifying first, primary, primordial; as, protomartyr, the first martyr; protomorphic, primitive in form; protoplast, a primordial organism; prototype, protozoan
indicating the first or earliest or original; "`proto' is a combining form in a word like `protolanguage' that refers to the hypothetical ancestor of another language or group of languages"
Denoting the first or lowest of a series, or the one having the smallest amount of the element to the name of which it is prefixed; as protoxide, protochloride, etc
Proto- is used to form adjectives and nouns which indicate that something is in the early stages of its development. the proto-fascist tendencies of some of its supporters. Albion, whose own legend stretches back to the mists of proto-history. existing or coming before other things of the same type