Meanings
nounproto-language (countable and uncountable, plural proto-languages)
plural proto-languages · alternative protolanguage
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesA language which is reconstructed by examining similarities in existing languages in order to deduce the form and aspects of a common ancestor language that is no longer known.
Just as Greek and Sanskrit reflect a proto-language, so do the Cypria and the Mahābhārata reflect a proto-story.
2025 December 12, Tom Hercules Davies, “Horses, Wheels, Languages: Greek, Mesopotamian and Indic Epic on the Eurasian Steppe”, in The Classical Quarterly, volume 75, number 1, page 5
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*pér
- Proto-Indo-European*pró
- Ancient Greekπρό (pró)
- Ancient Greekπρῶτος (prôtos)
- Ancient Greekπρωτο- (prōto-)
- Englishproto-
- Proto-Indo-European*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
- Proto-Italic*dn̥ɣwā
- Latindingua
- Latinlingua
- Vulgar Latin*linguāticum
- Old Frenchlanguage
- Middle Englishlangage
- Englishlanguage
- Englishproto-language
Translations
Bulgarian праези́к
- праези́к (praezík)common ancestor language
Catalan protollengua
- protollenguacommon ancestor language
Chinese Cantonese 祖語 /祖语
- 祖語 /祖语 (zou² jyu⁵)common ancestor language
Chinese Mandarin 祖語 /祖语, 原始語 /原始语
- 祖語 /祖语 (zǔyǔ)common ancestor language
- 原始語 /原始语 (yuánshǐyǔ)common ancestor language
Czech prajazyk
- prajazykcommon ancestor language
Danish ursprog
- ursprogcommon ancestor language
Dutch vooroudertaal
- vooroudertaalcommon ancestor language
Esperanto pralingvo
- pralingvocommon ancestor language
Estonian algkeel
- algkeelcommon ancestor language
Finnish kantakieli
- kantakielicommon ancestor language
French protolangue
- protolanguecommon ancestor language
German Ursprache
- Ursprachecommon ancestor language
Greek πρωτογλώσσα
- πρωτογλώσσα (protoglóssa)common ancestor language
Hindi आदिभाषा
- आदिभाषा (ādibhāṣā)common ancestor language
Hungarian alapnyelv, ősnyelv
- alapnyelvcommon ancestor language
- ősnyelvcommon ancestor language
- protonyelvcommon ancestor language
Icelandic frummál
- frummálcommon ancestor language
Indonesian bahasa proto
- bahasa protocommon ancestor language
Italian protolingua
- protolinguacommon ancestor language
Japanese 祖語
- 祖語 (sogo)common ancestor language
Korean 프로토어
- 프로토어 (peuroto'eo)common ancestor language
Lithuanian prokalbė
- prokalbėcommon ancestor language
Malay bahasa purba, bahasa proto
- bahasa purbacommon ancestor language
- bahasa protocommon ancestor language
Norwegian urspråk
- urspråkcommon ancestor language
Polish prajęzyk
- prajęzykcommon ancestor language
Portuguese protolíngua
- protolínguacommon ancestor language
Romanian protolimbă
- protolimbăcommon ancestor language
Russian праязы́к
- праязы́к (prajazýk)common ancestor language
Slovak prajazyk, protojazyk
- prajazykcommon ancestor language
- protojazykcommon ancestor language
Spanish protolengua
- protolenguacommon ancestor language
Swedish urspråk
- urspråkcommon ancestor language
Turkish proto dil, ön dil
- proto dilcommon ancestor language
- ön dilcommon ancestor language
- ana dilcommon ancestor language
Ukrainian прамо́ва
- прамо́ва (pramóva)common ancestor language
Vietnamese tiền ngôn ngữ
- tiền ngôn ngữcommon ancestor language
Cite this entry
APA
proto-language. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proto-language
MLA
“proto-language.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proto-language. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “proto-language,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proto-language.
Source: proto-language on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.