protagonist

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See also: Protagonist

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”). By surface analysis, prot- (“first”) +‎ agonist (“combatant, participant”).

Pronunciation

Noun

protagonist (plural protagonists)

  1. (authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.
    Antonym: antagonist
  2. A leading person in a contest; a principal performer.
  3. (proscribed) An advocate or champion of a cause or course of action.

Usage notes

The use of protagonist to mean a proponent or supporter of a cause is a 20th century development that may have been influenced by the misunderstanding that the first syllable of the word is the prefix pro-, meaning favouring. This usage is widely considered to be erroneous.

Antonyms

Coordinate terms

Related terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “protagonist”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
  2. ^ Pinker, Steven (2014) The Sense of Style, New York, New York: Penguin, →ISBN
  3. ^ Feloni, Richard (2015 November 30) “The 58 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases”, in The Independent‎, Independent Print Limited

Further reading

Danish

Noun

protagonist c (singular definite protagonisten, plural indefinite protagonister)

  1. (literature) protagonist
    Synonym: hovedperson

Declension

Declension of protagonist
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative protagonist protagonisten protagonister protagonisterne
genitive protagonists protagonistens protagonisters protagonisternes

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌproː.taː.ɣoːˈnɪst/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: pro‧ta‧go‧nist
  • Rhymes: -ɪst

Noun

protagonist m (plural protagonisten)

  1. protagonist, main character
    • 1780, M. C. Curtius, Aristoteles Verhandeling over de dichtkunst, tr. from German, publ. by Arend Fokke Simonsz., page 105.
      Hy voerde nog een perſoon in, en verdeelde het Treurſpel in twee rollen, van welke de eerste Acteur de hoofdrol ſpeelde en daarvan de Protagonist heette;
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    Synonyms: hoofdpersonage, hoofdpersoon

Antonyms

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French protagoniste.

Noun

protagonist m (plural protagoniști)

  1. protagonist

Declension

Declension of protagonist
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) protagonist protagonistul (niște) protagoniști protagoniștii
genitive/dative (unui) protagonist protagonistului (unor) protagoniști protagoniștilor
vocative protagonistule protagoniștilor

Swedish

Noun

protagonist c

  1. (authorship) a protagonist
    Antonym: antagonist

Declension

Declension of protagonist 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative protagonist protagonisten protagonister protagonisterna
Genitive protagonists protagonistens protagonisters protagonisternas

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia