πρό

Forms

πρό (pró) (governs the genitive)^[1] Mycenaean Greek po-ro-, found only in compounds.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pró,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pró (“forward, before”), an adverb and preverb kept in almost every Indo-European language, mostly in compounds.^[3][2][1] Beside it stood a form with a long vowel, seen in πρωΐ (prōḯ, “early”).^[2][3] The ending is the same as in ἀπό (apó) and ὑπό (hupó).^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit प्र (prá-), Latin pro, Lithuanian pra-, Proto-Germanic *fram and Proto-Celtic *ɸro.^[1][3][2] Hittite parā (“forward, forth”) may continue the long or the short form.^[2][3] Chantraine and Frisk see a more distant link with παρά (pará), πάρος (páros) and περί (perí), but Chantraine finds the relations impossible to set out clearly.^[3][2] Frisk also asks whether πρίν (prín) and πρός (prós) belong here.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it as an adverb, “forward, forth” and “in front”, and as a preposition with the genitive, “in front of, before”, of place and of time.^[4][5][6] In the Iliad a warrior fights or dies “before” his city and his children, that is, in their defence.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

From the local sense “in front of” came the senses of protection (“in defence of, on behalf of”), of time (“earlier than”), of preference (“rather than, above”) and of substitution (“instead of”); LSJ compares the Homeric phrase for dying for one's city with Latin pro patria mori.^[5][6] The temporal use grows more frequent after Homer, and later writers put it with numbers: “thirty days before”.^[5] Plutarch uses it to render Roman dates, “the day before the Nones” for pridie Nonas.^[5][6]

In compounds it marks position in front, as in πρόθυρον (próthuron) and προπύλαια (propúlaia), or first rank and order, as in πρόεδρος (próedros) and προοίμιον (prooímion).^[5][3] It also marks standing in another's place, as in πρόξενος (próxenos) and πρόμαντις (prómantis), readiness, as in πρόχειρος (prókheiros) and πρόθυμος (próthumos), and prematureness, as in πρόωρος (próōros).^[5][3] With verbs it means “forward”, “in defence”, “in advance” or “in preference”.^[5][3] Mycenaean already has it in compounds.^[3]

In the Septuagint the phrase “before the face of” renders a Hebrew preposition, and the New Testament has it with a double genitive, “six days before the Passover”.^[7][6][8] Medieval Greek kept it as a first element of compounds, as Modern Greek still does; the Modern Greek preposition προ (pro) is a learned word taken from the ancient one.^[9][10][11]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad uses it as an adverb and as a preposition of place, time and defence.^[4][5][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of preference, praising gain “before” justice.^[5][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus writes of dying “for” Sparta, and Thucydides of the time “before” the Trojan War.^[5][13]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch renders Roman dates with it.^[5][6][13]
• Modern Greek – The learned preposition προ (pro) and the prefix continue it.^[10][9]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with genitive, of place) In front of, before; with verbs of motion, ahead of, at the head of.^[5][6]
2. (with genitive) In defence of, on behalf of, for the sake of.^[5][6]
3. (with genitive, of time) Before, earlier than; πρὸ τοῦ “before that, previously”.^[5][6]
4. (with genitive) Rather than, in preference to, above.^[5][6]
5. (with genitive) Instead of, in place of.^[6]
6. (with genitive) Out of, because of (fear and similar causes).^[6]

Adverb

1. Forward, forth; in front.^[4][6]
2. Previously, beforehand.^[6]

Word family

• πρόσθεν (prósthen)
• πρόσω (prósō)
• πρότερος (próteros)
• πρῶτος (prôtos)
• πρόθυρον (próthuron)
• προπύλαια (propúlaia)
• πρόεδρος (próedros)
• προοίμιον (prooímion)
• πρόξενος (próxenos)
• πρόχειρος (prókheiros)
• πρόθυμος (próthūmos)
• πρόωρος (próōros)
• προβαίνω (probaínō)
• προδίδωμι (prodídōmi)
• προνοέω (pronoéō)

Related words

• παρά (pará)
• περί (perí)
• πρίν (prín)
• πρός (prós)
• Latin pro

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
8. ^ Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
13. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge