"P" Word Origins

prostate

Ancient Greek

From Middle French prostate, borrowed from Medieval Latin prostata, ultimately from Ancient Greek prostátēs, "one who stands before/guardian."

prosthesis

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek prósthesis, "addition," from prostíthēmi, "to add" — built from prós ("toward") plus títhēmi ("to place.")

prosthetic

Ancient Greek

From New Latin prostheticus, from Ancient Greek prosthetikós ("adding, giving extra power"), tied to the same root as prosthesis.

prosthetics

Origin

By surface analysis, prosth- + -etic + -s.

prosthodontics

Origin

By surface analysis, prosth- + -odont + -ics

prostitot

Origin

Blend of prostitute + tot.

prostitute

Latin

From Latin prōstitūtus, past participle of prōstituō, literally "to set up publicly for sale" — from prō ("before, forth") plus statuō ("to set up.")

prostitution

Late Latin

From Late Latin prostitutio, built from prostitute plus the noun-forming suffix -ion.

prostitutor

Origin

From prostitute + -or.

prostrate

Latin

From Latin prōstrātus, the past participle of prōsternō, "to throw down in front."

prostration

Origin

From Latin prōstrātiō, from prōstrātus, past participle of prōsternō.

protagonist

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek prōtagōnistḗs, "the first actor," from prôtos ("first") plus agōnistḗs ("actor, contestant.")

protect

Latin

From Latin prōtēctus, past participle of prōtegere, "to cover in front" — from prō- ("in front of") plus tegere ("to cover.")

protection

Late Latin

From Old French, from Late Latin prōtēctiō, "a covering over," built on the same root as protect.

protectionism

Origin

Borrowed from French protectionnisme, equivalent to protection + -ism.

protective

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin prōtēctīvus, built on the root of protect.

protector

Latin

From Anglo-Norman protectour, from Latin prōtēctor, from prōtegō, "to shield, protect."

protectorate

Origin

From protector plus the suffix -ate, which forms nouns denoting rank or system of rule.

protege

French

From French protégé, past participle of protéger "to protect", from Latin protegere "to cover in front".

protein

Greek

Coined from Greek prōteîos ("primary, of first importance") by chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, suggesting these molecules are fundamental to life.

protest

Latin

From Old French protester, from Latin prōtestārī, built from prō- ("forth") plus testor ("to testify"), from testis, "witness."

Protestant

French

From German Protestant or French protestant, ultimately tied to protest plus -ant — the early Reformers formally "protested" against Catholic Church decisions.

protestation

Origin

From Old French protestacion, from Latin prōtestātiō.

protester

Origin

From protest plus the agent suffix -er.

Proteus

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Prōteús, the shape-shifting sea god of myth.

prothesis

Origin

From Late Latin prothesis, prosthesis, alteration (dropping the ‘s’) from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis, “addition, augmentation”), (English prosthesis) from προστίθημι (prostíthēmi, “to add”), from πρός (prós, “towards”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to place”), from Proto-Indo-European *próti, *préti + *dʰédʰeh₁- (“to be putting, to be placing”). However, often confused for a descendant of the Ancient Greek word πρόθεσις (próthesis, “a preposing, preposition”) (without the σ (s)), which is instead the source of a different term – see alternative etymology, below.

protocol

Greek

From Byzantine Greek prōtókollon, "first sheet glued to a manuscript," from prôtos ("first") plus kólla ("glue") — originally the cover page of an official document.

proton

Greek · 1920

Coined in 1920 by physicist Ernest Rutherford from Greek prôton, "first thing," echoing the earlier-named electron.

prototype

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek prōtótupos, "original pattern," from prôtos ("first") plus túpos ("impression, model.")

protract

Origin

From the past participle stem of Latin prōtrahō. By surface analysis, pro- + tract.

protrude

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin prōtrūdere, the present active infinitive of prōtrūdō (“to push or thrust forwards; to protrude”), from prō- (“prefix denoting a forward direction or movement”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward; toward”)) + trūdō (“to push, shove, thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push, thrust”)).

protrusion

Origin

From French protrusion.

protuberance

Origin

From French protubérance, from Latin prōtubērantia (“bulge; protuberance”), from prō + tūber (“swelling; protuberance”) + -antia (“-ance”).

proud

Late Latin

From Old English prūd, likely from Old French prod, prud ("brave, worthy"), from Late Latin prōde, "useful" — ultimately tied to the same root as "pride."

proudly

Old English

From Old English prūtlīċe, built from proud plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

prove

Latin

From Old English prōfian and Old French prover, both from Latin probō, "to test, examine, show to be good" — the same root that gives us "probe" and "probable."

proven

Middle English

Developed as the past participle of "preve," a Middle English form of prove, and originally used in Scottish legal contexts — as in the verdict "not proven."

provenance

Latin

From French provenance, "origin," from provenir ("to arise, come forth"), from Latin provenio.

Provence

Latin

From French Provence, itself from the Latin term for the Roman province established in the area.

provender

Origin

From Middle English provendre, from Old French provendre, variant of provende (“allowance, provision”), from Late Latin praebenda (“a payment, in Medieval Latin also an allowance of food and drink, pittance, also a prebend”). Doublet of prebend.

provene

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French provenir, from Latin prōvenīre.

proverb

Latin

From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.

proverbial

Latin

From Latin prōverbiālis, built from proverb plus the adjective suffix -ial.

proverse

Origin

From Latin prōversus (“turned forwards”), perfect passive participle of prōvertō (“to turn forwards”), from prō- (“before, in front of”) + vertō (“to turn”). By surface analysis, pro- + -verse. Doublet of prose.

provide

Latin

From Latin prōvidēre, "to foresee, act with foresight" — the same root that gives us "provident" and "providence."

Providence

Origin

From providence.

provident

Origin

From Middle English provident, from Latin prōvidēns, prōvidentis, present participle of prōvideō (“to foresee; to be cautious; to provide”): compare French provident. By surface analysis, provide + -ent. Doublet of prudent.

provider

Origin

From provide plus the agent suffix -er.