πρῶτος

See also: πρωτός and πρώτος

Ancient Greek

**Ancient Greek ordinal numbers**
< –	αʹ	βʹ >
Cardinal : εἷς (heîs) Ordinal : πρῶτος (prôtos) Adverbial : ἅπαξ (hápax)

Alternative forms

πρᾶτος (prâtos) — Doric

Etymology

Traditionally held to be the superlative of πρό (pró, “before”) (compare πρότερος (próteros)), but it is unclear how such a contraction would come about. Could also be from a Proto-Indo-European *pr̥H- or *per-, with cognates including Lithuanian pirmas, Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva), and Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬬𐬀 (paurva). In both cases, the ω (ō) and ᾱ (ā) forms are difficult to reconcile.^[1]

A more recent hypothesis derives the Attic and Doric forms from Proto-Hellenic *pro-atos.^[2]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /prɔ̂ː.tos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.tos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.tos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.tos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.tos/

Adjective

πρῶτος • (prôtos) m (feminine πρώτη, neuter πρῶτον); first/second declension

Declension

First and second declension of πρῶτος; πρώτη; πρῶτον (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	πρῶτος prôtos	πρώτη prṓtē	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτᾱ prṓtā	πρώτω prṓtō	πρῶτοι prôtoi	πρῶται prôtai	πρῶτᾰ prôta
Genitive	πρώτου prṓtou	πρώτης prṓtēs	πρώτου prṓtou	πρώτοιν prṓtoin	πρώταιν prṓtain	πρώτοιν prṓtoin	πρώτων prṓtōn	πρώτων prṓtōn	πρώτων prṓtōn
Dative	πρώτῳ prṓtōi	πρώτῃ prṓtēi	πρώτῳ prṓtōi	πρώτοιν prṓtoin	πρώταιν prṓtain	πρώτοιν prṓtoin	πρώτοις prṓtois	πρώταις prṓtais	πρώτοις prṓtois
Accusative	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτην prṓtēn	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτᾱ prṓtā	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτους prṓtous	πρώτᾱς prṓtās	πρῶτᾰ prôta
Vocative	πρῶτε prôte	πρώτη prṓtē	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτᾱ prṓtā	πρώτω prṓtō	πρῶτοι prôtoi	πρῶται prôtai	πρῶτᾰ prôta
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	πρῶτον / πρῶτᾰ / πρώτως prôton / prôta / prṓtōs			—			—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First and second declension of πρῶτος; πρώτη; πρῶτον (Epic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	πρῶτος prôtos	πρώτη prṓtē	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτᾱ prṓtā	πρώτω prṓtō	πρῶτοι prôtoi	πρῶται prôtai	πρῶτᾰ prôta
Genitive	πρώτου / πρωτοῖο / πρώτοιο / πρωτόο / πρώτοο prṓtou / prōtoîo / prṓtoio / prōtóo / prṓtoo	πρώτης prṓtēs	πρώτου / πρωτοῖο / πρώτοιο / πρωτόο / πρώτοο prṓtou / prōtoîo / prṓtoio / prōtóo / prṓtoo	πρώτοιῐν prṓtoiin	πρώταιν / πρώταιῐν / πρώτῃῐν prṓtai(i)n / prṓtēiin	πρώτοιῐν prṓtoiin	πρώτων prṓtōn	πρωτᾱ́ων / πρωτέ͜ων / πρωτῶν prōtā́ōn / prōté͜ōn / prōtôn	πρώτων prṓtōn
Dative	πρώτῳ prṓtōi	πρώτῃ prṓtēi	πρώτῳ prṓtōi	πρώτοιῐν prṓtoiin	πρώταιν / πρώταιῐν / πρώτῃῐν prṓtai(i)n / prṓtēiin	πρώτοιῐν prṓtoiin	πρώτοισῐ / πρώτοισῐν / πρώτοις prṓtoisi(n) / prṓtois	πρώτῃσῐ / πρώτῃσῐν / πρώτῃς / πρώταις prṓtēisi(n) / prṓtēis / prṓtais	πρώτοισῐ / πρώτοισῐν / πρώτοις prṓtoisi(n) / prṓtois
Accusative	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτην prṓtēn	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτᾱ prṓtā	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτους prṓtous	πρώτᾱς prṓtās	πρῶτᾰ prôta
Vocative	πρῶτε prôte	πρώτη prṓtē	πρῶτον prôton	πρώτω prṓtō	πρώτᾱ prṓtā	πρώτω prṓtō	πρῶτοι prôtoi	πρῶται prôtai	πρῶτᾰ prôta
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	πρῶτον / πρῶτᾰ / πρώτως prôton / prôta / prṓtōs			—			—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “of time”): ἔσχᾰτος (éskhatos, “last”)

Derived terms

ἑβδομηκοστόπρωτος (hebdomēkostóprōtos, “seventy-first”) (Byzantine Greek)
πάμπρωτος (pámprōtos)
πρωτολόγος (prōtológos)

Descendants

Greek: πρώτος (prótos)
Mariupol Greek: про́тос (prótos)
→ English: proto-
→ French: proto-
→ Italian: proto-
→ Latvian: proto-
→ Spanish: proto-

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πρῶτος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1245
^ Van Beek, Lucien (2022). Greek. In T. Olander (Ed.), The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective (pp. 173-201). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.013

“πρῶτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“πρῶτος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
πρῶτος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
πρῶτος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
“πρῶτος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G4413 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.
- champion idem, page 123.
- chief idem, page 129.
- elementary idem, page 265.
- first idem, page 323.
- foremost idem, page 336.
- front idem, page 346.
- head idem, page 389.
- initial idem, page 441.
- leading idem, page 482.
- main idem, page 508.
- original idem, page 579.
- primal idem, page 640.
- primary idem, page 640.
- prime idem, page 640.
- primordial idem, page 641.
- principal idem, page 641.
- rudimentary idem, page 724.
- supreme idem, page 842.
- top idem, page 881.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πρῶτος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1245

[2] Van Beek, Lucien (2022). Greek. In T. Olander (Ed.), The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective (pp. 173-201). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.013

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