πρό

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *pró, from Proto-Indo-European *pró, *pro- (see *per-).

Cognates include Latin pro, Sanskrit प्र (prá), Proto-Celtic *ɸro and Proto-Germanic *fram (English from). May be related to πρός (prós, “towards”).

Pronunciation

Preposition

πρό • (pró) (governs the genitive)

1. before
   1. (of place) before, in front of
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 24.468
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 15.351
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 19.292
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.126
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 6.80
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 18.172
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.561
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.12
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 8.581
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.3
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 13.56
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.53
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 2.18
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 5.96
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 109
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.75
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.4
      • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 1279
      • c. 440 BCE, Euripides, Rhesus 274
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1207
      • 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, On the Embassy 148
      1. (with verbs of motion)
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 19.435
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.115
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.286
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.693
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.96
      2. before, in front of, for the purpose of shielding or guarding
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.215
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.57
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 4.156
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 4.373
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.74
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 22.110
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.134
         • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 18
         • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 645
         • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 134
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.8.4
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.6.42
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.5.44
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.4.7
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 7.8.18
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 7.6.36
         • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 10
         • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 811
      3. further on, forward, onward
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 4.382
         • 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 3.16
         • 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 7.29
         • 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 9.35
         • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 8.6.24
   2. (of time) before
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 15.524
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.469
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.224
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.3
      • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 883
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 57A
      • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 201D
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 5.5.39
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.5.14
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.6.6
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1266
      • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Against the Stepmother for Poisoning 21
      • 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon 126
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.130
      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Pompey 73
      • 95 CE – 165 CE, Appian, Civil Wars 2.116
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.8
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1204
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.122
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.83
      • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 418
      • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 173A
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 462
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.58
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Against the Sophists 19
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.97
      1. (in later writers, with numerals)
         • 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 5.52
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Julius Caesar 63
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.147E
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Sulla 37
         • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Amos 1.1
         • 40 CE – 90 CE, Dioscorides, Materia medica 1.64
         • 50 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of John 12:1
         • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Saturnalia 14
   3. (in other relations)
      1. (of preference) before, sooner, rather than
         • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 4.140
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 361E
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.152
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Conon 19
         • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.100
         • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.59
         • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.36
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 366B
         • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Philebus 57E
         • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, To Philip 138
         • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.33
         • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.10
         • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Menexenus 249E
         • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 1002
         • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 927
         • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 401D
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.62
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.12
         • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Apology 28D
         • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Crito 54B
         • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 99A
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.85
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.3
      2. (of cause or motive) for, out of, from
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.667
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.734
         • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 495

Usage notes

Words may be put between πρό and its case, but πρό does not come after its case.

Adverb

πρό • (pró)

1. (of place) before, in front, forth, forward
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.799–800
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 15.360
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 19.118
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 960
   • 424 BCE, Euripides, Hecuba 59
   • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 682
   • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, The Acharnians 235
2. (of time) before, beforehand
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.37
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 32
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 38

Derived terms

• πρόσω (prósō)

Descendants

• → English: pro-

References

• “πρό”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πρό”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πρό”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πρό in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πρό in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “πρό”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G4253 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • above idem, page 3.
  • advance idem, page 13.
  • anchor idem, page 29.
  • antecedent idem, page 32.
  • anterior idem, page 32.
  • before idem, page 69.
  • beforehand idem, page 70.
  • behalf idem, page 71.
  • ere idem, page 281.
  • for idem, page 334.
  • forward idem, page 340.
  • front idem, page 346.
  • head idem, page 389.
  • preference idem, page 634.
  • to idem, page 878.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN