( combining form) 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"

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"

A combining form prefix signifying first, primary, primordial; as, protomartyr, the first martyr; protomorphic, primitive in form; protoplast, a primordial organism; prototype, protozoan.

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.

Sometimes used as equivalent to mono-, as indicating that the compound has but one atom of the element to the name of which it is prefixed. Also used adjectively.

In chem., a prefix in many scientific compounds, denoting the first or smallest degree of a substance which combines with a base, as protoxide, the first or smallest proportion of oxygen; the first or earliest, as protogine; the earliest or lowest, as protozoa.

See prot.

If, under some condition of pressure and temperature eventually reached, the components of this suddenly entered into one of those proto- chemical combinations forming a new element, there might result an explosion capable of shattering the entire planet, and propelling its fragments in all directions with high velocities. – Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Herbert Spencer

He was the proto- martyr of the new world, and the story of his martyrdom and the early church in Tlaxcala, have been charmingly narrated by Mendieta. – In Indian Mexico (1908) by Frederick Starr

Amongst these four was Fray Luis Cancer, whose name was destined to be written in the list of the proto- martyrs of the Catholic Church in America. – Bartholomew de Las Casas; his life, apostolate, and writings by Francis Augustus MacNutt

The oxygen of the atmosphere also unites with certain minerals, such as the proto- salts of iron, and converts them into peroxides. – Geology by James Geikie

Such a shield to him was the faith of Stephen the proto- martyr. – The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians by G. G. Findlay

56. What is the signification of Proto? – 1001 Questions and Answers on Orthography and Reading by B. A. Hathaway

It had meant something else then, but the proto- language of the Hirlaji had no precise meanings; given by itself, it seemed to mean precisely what it said. – Warlord of Kor by Terry Gene Carr

For instance, a whole chapter has been added to Egyptian history by the discovery of the Neolithic culture of the primitive Egyptians, while the recent excavations at Susa are revealing a hitherto totally unsuspected epoch of proto- Elamite civilization. – History Of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, And Assyria In The Light Of Recent Discovery by L.W. King and H.R. Hall

Originally a strong and able defender of the Romish doctrines, he was chosen to argue with Patrick Hamilton, the proto- martyr of the Reformation in Scotland, with the object of inducing him to recant. – A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin

Assume that the diameter of the missing planet was 20, 000 miles; that its solid crust was a thousand miles thick; that under this came a shell of molten metallic matter which was another thousand miles thick; and that the space, 16, 000 miles in diameter, within this, was occupied by the equally dense mass of gases above the " critical point", which, entering into a proto- chemical combination, caused the destroying explosion. – Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Herbert Spencer

The diverse proto- historic populations, Gauls, Franks, Burgundians, and Merovingians, considered together, present a stature slightly superior to that of the French of the present day, but not so much so as the accounts of the historians would have led us to believe. – A Philological Essay Concerning the Pygmies of the Ancients by Edward Tyson

The entry of the nurse a moment since, with a proto- stimulant on a tray, had let him out to tear down the stairs to the garden, rudely thrusting aside the noble owner of the house, out of bounds in a dressing- gown and able to defy Society. – When Ghost Meets Ghost by William Frend De Morgan

The conquering race is that which is supposed to have been of Semitic or proto- Semitic origin, and to have brought elements of Sumerian culture to savage Egypt. – History Of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, And Assyria In The Light Of Recent Discovery by L.W. King and H.R. Hall

The proto- salts of iron, as is well known to chemists, precipitate gold in the metallic state. – Photographic Reproduction Processes by P.C. Duchochois

And Adam Trehearne, who'll be here shortly, collects pistols and a few long- arms in wheel lock, proto- flintlock and early flintlock, to 1700. And Philip Cabot collects U. S. Martials, flintlock to automatic, and also enemy and Allied Army weapons from all our wars. – Murder in the Gunroom by Henry Beam Piper

Some, from a feeling of deep pity for the poor young girl who was to be almost the proto- martyr of the new faith. – Mistress Margery by Emily Sarah Holt

Thus treated, it bears a certain family likeness to the Doric column; and one understands how Jomard and Champollion, in the first ardour of discovery, were tempted to give it the scarcely justifiable name of " proto- Doric." – Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology And Guide To The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt by Gaston Camille Charles Maspero

Just as in the first dawn of things, when the proto- binary compounds of matter gave rise to new relations together with their appropriate laws, so throughout the whole process of evolution, as often as matter acquired a hitherto novel state, or in one of its old states entered into hitherto novel relations, so often would non- existent or even impossible laws become at once possible and necessary. – A Candid Examination of Theism by George John Romanes

It is important, then, that I should examine more closely the Proto- Egyptian body of doctrine to elucidate the mutual influence of it and the ideas suggested by the practice of mummification. – The Evolution of the Dragon by G. Elliot Smith