proto-comb. form

Etymology: < classical Latin prōto- (in e.g. prōtotomus (of vegetables) that is cut first, early) and its etymon ancient Greek πρωτο- (also πρωτ- before a simple vowel, and πρωθ- before an aspirated vowel), combining form (in e.g. πρωτογενής firstborn, primeval: see Protogenes n.) of πρῶτος first < a first element from the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit pūrva- , Avestan paurva- , Lithuanian pirmas + -τος , suffix forming ordinal numbers (see -th suffix²). Compare French proto-, German proto- (formations in both of which are attested from at least the 19th cent.).Attested in loans from Latin and French from the 15th cent. (see e.g. prothonotary n., protomartyr n., and protocol n.). Adaptations from French occur from the mid 16th cent. onwards (apparently earliest in protoplasmator n.). Formations within English are attested from the mid 16th cent. (apparently earliest in protodaw n. and prototraitor n. at sense 1c). Formations within English in which the second element begins with a vowel or h- sometimes show prot- or proth- (/prəʊθ/) respectively (modelled on practice in Greek, proth- being after Greek πρωθ- before an aspirated vowel), but proto- is also commonly found, from at least the 17th cent.: see e.g. α. forms at Protevangelium n., proto-abbaty n. at sense 1c, proto-apostate n. at sense 1a(a), Protohippus n. In post-classical Latin a number of forms for which proto- is regular show variation in protho- , e.g. prothomartyr beside protomartyr (see protomartyr n.), and prothonotarius beside protonotarius (see prothonotary n.); the reasons for this are not clear.