pro-

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

pro-

1. similar to

• ꝓ- (abbreviation, obsolete)

• enPR: prō′-
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹəʊ̯-/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹoʊ̯-/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹɐʉ̯-/; (also General Australian) /ˌpɹəʉ̯-/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹo-/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˌpɾoː-/
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Hyphenation: pro-

Derived from Latin prō (“in favor of, on behalf of”).

pro-

2. agreeing with; supporting; favouring
   • 2017 August 29, Andrew Kaczynski, “Rep. Rohrabacher says ‘rendezvous’ being set up with Trump to relay info from WikiLeaks’ Assange on DNC hack”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Rohrabacher, who is considered to be among the most pro-Russia members in Congress, met with Assange earlier this month and claims Assange told him that Russia was not involved in the hacking.

   • 2020 September 6, “Hong Kong police arrest 289 at protests over election delay”, in The Washington Post, Associated Press‎^[2], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 April 2023, Asia & Pacific‎^[3]:

     Police said that 289 people had been arrested, mostly for unlawful assembly. One woman was arrested in the Kowloon district of Yau Ma Tei on charges of assault and spreading pro-independence slogans, the police department said on its Facebook page. It said such slogans are illegal under a newly enacted national security law.

4. substituting for

• (substituting for): pro-form, pronoun, pro-sentence; pro-drop

Learned borrowing from Latin prō- (“forward direction, forward movement”).

pro-

2. forward movement
   • progress compared to regress

Derived from Ancient Greek πρό (pró, “before”).

pro-

2. earlier; prior
4. (biology) precursor (molecule)

   Coordinate term: prepro- (coordinate as types of precursors; also, many prepro- forms are holonymous to pro- forms)

6. rudimentary
8. in front of

• ante-, anti-
• counter-
• per-
• post-

• “pro-”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “pro-”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “pro-”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN. -- lists many derived terms
• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “pro-”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN. -- lists many derived terms

• RPO, opr., ROP, orp, OPr., POR

• IPA^(key): [pro ]

pro-

1. through
2. forms a perfective verb and makes the verb transitive, the direct object is related to money or time

   ‎pro- + ‎pít (“to drink”) → ‎propít (“to spend sth on drinking”)

   ‎pro- + ‎bulet → ‎probulet

   ‎pro- + ‎podnikat → ‎propodnikat

   ‎pro- + ‎večírkovat → ‎provečírkovat

3. (pro- + imperfective base + se) + direction forms a perfective verb and changes the sense of motion from literal to fictive

   ‎pro- + ‎zdravit → ‎prozdravit se

   ‎pro- + ‎rvát → ‎prorvat se

   ‎pro- + ‎kouřit → ‎prokouřit se

   ‎pro- + ‎žvanit → ‎prožvanit se

• prů-

• pro-/prů- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

From Latin prō.

pro-

1. pro-

• “pro-” in Den Danske Ordbog

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

pro-

1. pro-

Borrowed from Latin prō (“in front of”).

pro-

1. pro-

• prōd- (prevocalic)
• por- (pre-classical)
• ꝓ- (abbreviation, Medieval Latin)

From Proto-Italic *pro-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-. Synchronically served as the prefix counterpart to the preposition prō.

• pro-:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [prɔ]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [pro]
  • Hyphenation: pro-
• prō-:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [proː]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [pro]
  • Hyphenation: prō-

prō- or pro-

1. forward direction, forward movement

   prō- + clīvus + -is → prōclīvis

   ‎prōd- + ‎eō → ‎prōdeō

   ‎prō- + ‎gradior → ‎prōgredior

   1. downward and forward movement

      prō- + flīgō + -ō → prōflīgō

      ‎prō- + ‎terō → ‎prōterō

2. action directed forward or in front

   ‎prō- + ‎pugnō → ‎prōpugnō

   ‎prō- + ‎tegō → ‎prōtegō

3. prominence

   ‎prō- + ‎*mineō → ‎prōmineō

   ‎prō- + ‎pendeō → ‎prōpendeō

4. (prefixed to verbs of utterance) in place of, instead of, on behalf of

   ‎prō- + ‎clāmō → ‎prōclāmō

   ‎prō- + ‎loquor → ‎prōloquor

5. bringing into being, forth, or into the open

   ‎prō- + ‎creō → ‎prōcreō

   ‎prō- + ‎gignō → ‎prōgignō

   ‎prō- + ‎*olēs → ‎prōlēs

   ‎prō- + ‎emō → ‎prōmō

6. (temporally) prior, fore-

   ‎pro- + ‎avus → ‎proavus

   ‎prō- + ‎rogō → ‎prōrogō

   ‎prō- + ‎videō → ‎prōvideō

7. advantage

   ‎prō- + ‎cūrō → ‎prōcūrō

   ‎prō- + ‎faciō → ‎prōficiō

   ‎prō(d)- + ‎sum → ‎prōsum

• “pro-” on page 1,463/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Learned borrowing from Latin prō-.

• IPA^(key): /prɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ
• Syllabification: pro-

pro-

1. pro-

• “pro-”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

From Proto-Slavic *pro-.

• IPA^(key): /prɔ-/

pro-

1. Forms perfective verbs with the following meanings:
   1. moving through

      ‎pro- + ‎sẹ́vati (“to radiate”) → ‎prosẹ́vati (“to shine through”)

From Latin pro- or pro.

pro-

1. pro-

• “pro-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025