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.

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

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /prɔ̂ː.tos/ → /ˈpro.tos/ → /ˈpro.tos/

• (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

1. first
2. earliest
3. foremost, most prominent
4. (mathematics) prime

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
		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
		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-

Further reading

• “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^[1], 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.