done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay: a prompt reply.
ready in action; quick to act as occasion demands: They were trained to be prompt and competent for any emergency.
quick or alert: You're too prompt to take offense.
punctual: She's never prompt in arriving for work, yet she's always the first to leave at the end of the day.
verb (used with object)
to move or induce to action: What prompted you to say that?
to occasion or incite; inspire: What prompted his resignation?
to assist (a person speaking) by suggesting something to be said: It's obvious that this witness has been prompted into giving false testimony.
Theater. to supply (an actor, singer, etc.) from offstage with a missed cue or forgotten line:I focused on prompting our Cyrano, who had become strangely disoriented.
verb (used without object)
Theater. to supply forgotten lines, lyrics, or the like to an actor, singer, etc.: I've got a one-line walk-on in the first scene, but for the rest of the play, I'll be prompting.
noun
Commerce.
a limit of time given for payment for merchandise purchased, the limit being stated on a note of reminder (prompt note ).
the contract setting the time limit.
the act of prompting.
something serving to suggest or remind: They send an email once a month, which is just the prompt I need to pay my bill on time.
Computers. a message or symbol from a computer system to a user, generally appearing on a display screen, requesting more information or indicating that the system is ready for user instructions: When the prompt appears, provide your access code.
Idioms for prompt
take a prompt, (in acting) to move or speak in response to a cue.
Origin of prompt
First recorded in 1400–50; (adjective) Middle English prompte “ready, eager,” from Old French pront, prompt and Latin promptus “manifest, at hand, ready, quick, prepared,” special use of past participle of prōmere “to bring forth or out, set forth (an idea), deliver (a speech), publish (a book),” equivalent to the prefix prō- “advancing or projecting forward” + (e)mere “to take, buy”; (verb) late Middle English prompten, from the adjective or possibly from unattested Medieval Latin promptāre “to incite, induce,” from Latin promptāre “to distribute in abundance, be steward of,” a frequentative of prōmere; see pro-1
SYNONYMS FOR prompt
5 urge, spur, instigate, impel.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR prompt ON THESAURUS.COM
historical usage of prompt
Prompt, adjective and verb, presents some oddities. One is that the first recorded date for the adjective is about 1425 and for the verb, 1428, making it impossible to determine which part of speech was the source for the other. A second oddity is that prompting, the gerund (verbal noun) logically derived from prompt and meaning “incitement or impulse to action,” is first recorded in 1402, a quarter of a century before the verb. A third difficulty is that the Medieval Latin verb promptāre, the possible source of the English word, does not exist per se but is inferred from its Medieval Latin derivative noun promptātor “one who incites or urges,” recorded in the mid-15th century, and the Old Italian verb prontare “to urge, press.” The commercial sense of the noun prompt “a time limit given for payment for merchandise purchased" dates from the mid-18th century. The computer sense of the noun “a message or symbol on a display screen requesting more information from a user" dates from 1977.
Mamoon and his second wife, Liana, hope it will revive his reputation, and “prompt the reissuing of his books in forty languages.”
A Novel About a Novelist ‘Like’ Naipaul|Edward Platt|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is cautious optimism that this prompt action may have helped avert a broader outbreak.
What’s Worse Than Ebola in West Africa? Almost Everything|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sticks and stones may break your bones but, as some University of Oregon campus cops learned recently, names can prompt a lawsuit.
The First Amendment Works, But Does it Work Blue?|Kevin Bleyer|July 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Failing to attend to these things brings prompt disciplining or patient complaint.
How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession|Daniela Drake|April 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The prompt use, at the proper moment, of the reserve, may decide the battle.
A Treatise on the Tactical Use of the Three Arms: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry|Francis J. Lippitt
“No, O mighty leader, he is none of mine,” was the prompt reply.
Washer the Raccoon |George Ethelbert Walsh
A horse who is docile and prompt to obey can be guided hither and thither by the slightest movement of the reins.
L. Annaeus Seneca On Benefits|Seneca
Their obedience was as prompt as before, and the British line was soon broken.
Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2|John Frederick Schroeder
He was a sober, clear-headed, studious and somewhat taciturn boy, quick to perceive and prompt to act.
Memoirs of Orange Jacobs|Orange Jacobs
British Dictionary definitions for prompt
prompt
/ (prɒmpt) /
adjective
performed or executed without delay
quick or ready to act or respond
adverb
informalpunctually
verb
(tr)to urge (someone to do something)
to remind (an actor, singer, etc) of lines forgotten during a performance
(tr)to refresh the memory of
(tr)to give rise to by suggestionhis affairs will prompt discussion
noun
commerce
the time limit allowed for payment of the debt incurred by purchasing goods or services on credit
the contract specifying this time limit
Also called: prompt notea memorandum sent to a purchaser to remind him of the time limit and the sum due
the act of prompting
anything that serves to remind
an aid to the operator of a computer in the form of a question or statement that appears on the screen showing that the equipment is ready to proceed and indicating the options available
Derived forms of prompt
promptly, adverbpromptness, noun
Word Origin for prompt
C15: from Latin promptus evident, from prōmere to produce, from pro-1 + emere to buy