Standard Lemma guide

pro

adj · name · noun · prep · symbol · 19 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɹəʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /pɹoʊ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊ
  • CMU ARPABET: P R OW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Professional.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He landed a pro mentorship gig.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A surname from Spanish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

Initialism of Police Regional Office.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Philippines, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An advantage of something, especially when contrasted with its disadvantages (cons).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • What are the pros and cons of buying a car?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: advantage, plus, upside

Antonyms: con, disadvantage, downside, minus

5

noun

Meaning 5

A person who supports a concept or principle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: anti

6

noun

Meaning 6

A professional sportsman.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Professional.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial

Examples

  • When it comes to DIY, he's a real pro.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A prostitute.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang

Examples

  • 1974, "Fynn" (Sydney Hopkins), Mister God, This Is Anna Millie was one of the dozen or so pros who had a house at the top of the street.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A proproctor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, archaic, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

A chemical prophylaxis taken after sex to avoid contracting venereal disease.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

Initialism of pressure retarded osmosis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

Initialism of patient-reported outcome.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

prep

Meaning 13

In favor of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He is pro exercise but against physical exertion, quite a conundrum.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: anti

14

symbol

Meaning 14

A theoretical phonologically null pronoun

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences, syntax

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

symbol

Meaning 15

Used to indicate personal pronoun in sign language glosses, e.g. PRO.1 or PRO-1 for the first person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: sign language linguistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

adjective

Meaning 16

in favor of (an action or proposal etc.)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a pro vote

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: anti

17

adverb

Meaning 17

in favor of a proposition, opinion, etc.

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: con

18

noun

Meaning 18

an argument in favor of a proposal

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: con

Broader terms: argument, statement

19

noun

Meaning 19

an athlete who plays for pay

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: professional

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: athlete, jock

Narrower terms: free agent, semiprofessional, semipro

History

Etymology

Clipping of professional.

Borrowed from Spanish Pro.

Initialism.

From Late Middle English pro, from Latin prō (“on behalf of”).

Clipping of prostitute.

Clipping of proproctor.

Clipping of prophylaxis.

From the term pronoun.

Across languages

Translations

58 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: плюс (pljus) — advantage of something
  • Catalan: pro — advantage of something
  • Czech: pro — advantage of something
  • Czech: klad — advantage of something
  • Finnish: etu — advantage of something
  • Finnish: hyvä puoli — advantage of something
  • French: les pours — advantage of something
  • French: les avantages — advantage of something
  • Georgian: უპირატესობა (uṗiraṭesoba) — advantage of something
  • Polish: za — advantage of something
  • Portuguese: pró — advantage of something
  • Slovak: plus — advantage of something
  • Slovak: klad — advantage of something
  • Slovak: výhoda — advantage of something
  • Swedish: fördel — advantage of something
  • Thai: ข้อดี (kɔ̂ɔ-dii) — advantage of something
  • Vietnamese: ưu điểm — advantage of something
  • Finnish: ammattilainen — a professional sportsman
  • French: pro — a professional sportsman
  • Norwegian: proff — a professional sportsman
  • Catalan: expert — someone who is very good at something
  • Czech: profík — someone who is very good at something
  • Estonian: proff — someone who is very good at something
  • French: pro — someone who is very good at something
  • French: expert — someone who is very good at something
  • German: Profi — someone who is very good at something
  • Hungarian: profi — someone who is very good at something
  • Italian: esperto — someone who is very good at something
  • Japanese: プロ (puro) — someone who is very good at something
  • Korean: 프로 (peuro) — someone who is very good at something
  • Latin: consultus — someone who is very good at something
  • Norwegian: proff — someone who is very good at something
  • Portuguese: especialista — someone who is very good at something
  • Portuguese: perito — someone who is very good at something
  • Portuguese: profissa — someone who is very good at something
  • Russian: про́фи (prófi) — someone who is very good at something
  • Russian: профессиона́л (professionál) — someone who is very good at something
  • Russian: спец (spec) — someone who is very good at something
  • Slovak: profík — someone who is very good at something
  • Slovak: profíčka — someone who is very good at something
  • Spanish: perito — someone who is very good at something
  • Spanish: experto — someone who is very good at something
  • Swedish: proffs — someone who is very good at something
  • Arabic: مَع (maʕ) — in favor of
  • Arabic: مع (maʕ) — in favor of
  • Catalan: pro — in favor of
  • Czech: pro — in favor of
  • Finnish: puolesta — in favor of
  • Italian: in favore di — in favor of
  • Italian: pro — in favor of
  • Polish: za — in favor of
  • Portuguese: pró — in favor of
  • Slovak: za — in favor of
  • Tagalog: sang-ayon — in favor of
  • Turkish: adına — in favor of
  • Turkish: lehine — in favor of
  • Turkish: lehinde — in favor of
  • Vietnamese: thuận — in favor of