Etymology

protagon

P3R1O1T1A1G2O1N1

Today it means: A supposed crystalline molecule that forms the brain. The idea was proposed by Matthias Eugen Oscar Liebreich and Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Thudichum later disproved it, showing that the brain contains various lipids. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἀγών
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἀγών“a contest”
  2. English todayprotagon

From proto- + Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “a contest”). See protagonist. So called because it was the first definitely ascertained principle of the brain.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἀγών all →

agonagonism

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.