proto : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: proto	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for proto
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
proto adj 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"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Proto- \Pro"to-\ [Gr. prw^tos first, a superl. fr. pro` before. See {Pro-}.] 1. A combining form prefix signifying first, primary, primordial; as, protomartyr, the first martyr; protomorphic, primitive in form; protoplast, a primordial organism; prototype, protozoan. 2. (Chem.) (a) 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. (b) 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.