Standard Lemma guide

Proto-Greek

noun · 1 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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The earliest form of the Greek language, the common ancestor of the Greek dialects, including Mycenaean and the classical Greek dialects.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: protohellenic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *próder. Ancient Greek πρό (pró) Ancient Greek -ᾰτος (-ătos) Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-)lbor. English proto- English Greek English Proto-Greek From proto- + Greek.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: proto-grec — earliest form of the Greek language
  • French: proto-hellénique — earliest form of the Greek language
  • Greek: πρωτοελληνική (protoellinikí) — earliest form of the Greek language
  • Hindi: आदिम-यूनानी (ādim yūnānī) — earliest form of the Greek language
  • Portuguese: protogrego — earliest form of the Greek language
  • Urdu: اَوَّلِی یُونانی (avvalī-yūnānī) — earliest form of the Greek language