pro-

Forms

prō- ^[1] There is a variant prōd-, which de Vaan takes as recent, built on the model of re- beside red-; short pro- occurs in some forms and in older compounds such as procul, probus and proprius.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pro-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward, before”),^[1][2] and serves as the prefix counterpart of the preposition prō (“before, for”).^[1][3] De Vaan notes that Leumann takes long ⟨prō⟩ as the original form, shortened already in Proto-Indo-European, while Schrijver and Untermann assume an instrumental singular beside the short form.^[2] The prefix has the cognates Oscan prú-, Umbrian pru-, Sanskrit प्र (prá, “before, forward”), Ancient Greek πρό (pró, “before, forth”) and Lithuanian pra-.^[2]

Semantic evolution

With verbs it gave forward movement (sometimes forward and down), action in front, and prominence; with verbs of speaking it added the idea of bringing into the open; it also expressed priority in time and advantage.^[3] Before verbs of utterance it could mean “in place of, on behalf of”.^[1] De Vaan gives “before, previous” as the meaning of the prefix in proavus and similar words.^[2]

Meanings

Prefix

1. Forward, forth: prōdeō, prōgredior, prōclīvis; also forward and down: prōflīgō, prōterō.^[3][1]
2. In front, before (of action): prōpugnō, prōtegō.^[3][1]
3. Out, projecting (prominence): prōmineō.^[3][1]
4. Out into the open, forth (into being): prōclāmō, prōmō, prōlēs, prōcreō.^[3][1]
5. (with verbs of speaking) In place of, on behalf of.^[1]
6. Before (in time), fore-: prōrogō, prōvideō, proavus.^[3][1][2]
7. For the benefit of, to the advantage of: prōcūrō, prōficiō, prōsum.^[3][1]

Word family

• prōdeō
• prōgredior
• prōclīvis
• prōtegō
• prōmineō
• prōclāmō
• prōcreō
• prōrogō
• prōvideō
• proavus
• prōcūrō
• prōsum
• prōdūcō

Related words

• prō
• prōnus
• prōtinus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press