protean

See also: Protean

English

WOTD – 22 March 2009

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Πρωτεύς (Prōteús, literally “first”), the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹəʊ.tɪ.ən/, /pɹəʊˈtiː.ən/
• (US) enPR: prō'ti-ən, prō-tē'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹoʊ.tɪ.ən/, /pɹoʊˈtiː.ən/
  • Homophone: protein (dated)

• Audio (US):

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  Audio (US):

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Adjective

protean (comparative more protean, superlative most protean)

1. Exceedingly variable; readily assuming different shapes or forms.

   Synonyms: multiform, polymorphic, polymorphous, shapeshifting; see also Thesaurus:multiform

   Hyponym: pleomorphic

   An amoeba is a protean animalcule.

   • 1954 February 15, Henry E. Michelson, “The Syndrome of Lupus Erythematosus”, in Modern Medicine, volume 22, number 4, Minneapolis, Minn.: Modern Medicine Publications, Inc., page 96:

     Virus infection of the blood and bone marrow is probably responsible for all forms of the disease. The viral theory of origin accounts for the protean manifestations of the condition.

   • 1980, Gershon Legman, The New Limerick:

     […] the word's protean expressiveness has been observed in a xeroxlore item printed in Robert Anton Wilson's Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words […]

   • 1987, William A. Henry III, Time Magazine, volume 129:

     He loved to show off his protean talent.

   • 2020 October 27, Daphne Merkin, “Shifting the Focus From Sylvia Plath’s Tragic Death to Her Brilliant Life”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     In the intervening decades she has become a protean figure, an emblem of different things to different people, depending upon their viewpoint — a visionary, a victim, a martyr, a feminist icon, a schizophrenic, a virago, a prisoner of gender — or, perhaps, a genius, as both Plath and Hughes maintained during her lifetime.

2. Alternative letter-case form of Protean (of or relating to Proteus).

Translations

exceedingly variable

• Bulgarian: многообразен (bg) (mnogoobrazen), многолик (bg) (mnogolik)
• Catalan: proteic
• Czech: protéovský
• Dutch: proteïsch, wisselvallig (nl), veelvormig (nl)
• Finnish: monimuotoinen (fi), muuntautumiskykyinen (fi), kameleonttimainen
• French: variable (fr), changeant (fr), instable (fr), protéiforme (fr)
• German: vielgestaltig (de), proteisch (de)
• Polish: zmienny (pl) m
• Serbo-Croatian: protejski (sh), nestalan (sh)
• Spanish: proteico (es)

of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus

• Dutch: proteïsch
• French: protéique (fr)
• German: proteusartig
• Portuguese: proteico (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: protejski (sh)

Noun

protean (plural proteans)

1. (biochemistry) A protein that has been slightly modified by water, dilute acid, or enzymes, but not modified to the extent of a metaprotein.

See also

• Protea

Further reading

• Proteus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Paterno, operant, pronate, tropane