pronto

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish pronto (“quickly, promptly”), the Spanish adjective meaning "ready, prompt" used as an adverb,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin prōmptus,^[2][6][4][3] which also gave English prompt.^[4][6][5] The OED dates the Spanish adverb to the second half of the 15th century and the adjective to the second half of the 14th.^[2] Barnhart thinks it may have been helped by the earlier English use of the Italian musical direction pronto.^[5] The word is a doublet of prompt.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quickly, at once: 1850, in American English, according to Barnhart and Etymonline.^[5][4] The OED's first certain record is from the Los Angeles Times of 5 June 1892,^[2] the year Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives.^[3] The OED cites three passages of 1850 from Lewis H. Garrard's Wah-to-Yah with the form prento, which may be a nonstandard Spanish form, a blend of pronto and presto, or a mishearing of Spanish speakers.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was first a colloquial Americanism; the Shorter Oxford dates its general use to the early 20th century.^[7] The New Partridge records it as slang from 1911.^[8] It has kept a single meaning, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged notes that it is seldom used in formal writing.^[3]

Timeline

• 1850 – quickly, at once, in American English.^[5][4]
• 1892 – quickly, promptly, straightaway, in the Los Angeles Times.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (informal) Quickly; at once, without delay: Get that report to me pronto.^[3][9][2]

Related words

• prompt
• promptitude
• presto

Usage notes

A separate pronto, borrowed from Italian pronto, was used in English as a musical direction meaning "quick" or "promptly", from 1724 according to the OED;^[2][7] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1740.^[5][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins