English
protasis
Protasis comes from Late Latin protasis ‘an assertion, proposition’, from Ancient Greek πρότασις ‘putting forward’, and ultimately from προτείνω.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπροτείνω1proteínō‘put forward, tender, propose’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρότασις1prótasis‘putting forward’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprotasis1‘an assertion, proposition’
- Englishearliest quotation 1922protasis1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English protasis
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce: “It doubles itself in the middle of his life,…”.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπροτείνωWiktionary, English protasisproteínō‘put forward, tender, propose’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρότασιςWiktionary, English protasisprótasis‘putting forward’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprotasisWiktionary, English protasis‘an assertion, proposition’
- Englishearliest quotation 1922protasisWiktionary, English protasis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce: “It doubles itself in the middle of his life,…”
A compound of πρό ‘before, in front of’ + τείνω ‘stretch’
Proto-Indo-European *pró ‘forwards, before’
Proto-Hellenic *pró
Ancient Greek πρό ‘before, in front of’
Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘stretch’
Proto-Indo-European *tén-ye-ti
Proto-Hellenic *téňňō ‘to stretch’
Ancient Greek τείνω ‘stretch’
Every English word from Ancient Greek προτείνω
Today it means
noun The first part of a play, in which the setting and characters are introduced.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “protasis”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek προτείνω / protasis