πρῶτος

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-, with cognates including Lithuanian pirmas, Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva), and Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬬𐬀 (paurva). In both cases, the ω (ō) and (ā) forms are difficult to reconcile.

Pronunciation

 

Adjective

πρῶτος (prôtos) m (feminine πρώτη, neuter πρῶτον); first/second declension

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

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.