Dictionary

Proto-Greek en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *próder. Ancient Greek πρό (pró) Ancient Greek -ᾰτος (-ătos) Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-)lbor. English proto- English Greek English Proto-Greek From proto- + Greek.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The earliest form of the Greek language, the common ancestor of the Greek dialects, including Mycenaean and the classical Greek dialects.
   • Up to the moment the speakers of Proto-Greek enter the south Balkan peninsula, they belong to Indo-Europeanists, who use other IE-language texts to determine what they brought with them. 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 7:

Forms

Relateds

Wiktionary’s coverage of Proto-Hellenic terms

Synonyms

protohellenic

Translations (6)

ur اَوَّلِی یُونانی (earliest form of the Greek language) · hi आदिम-यूनानी (earliest form of the Greek language) · pt protogrego (earliest form of the Greek language) · el πρωτοελληνική (earliest form of the Greek language) · fr proto-grec (earliest form of the Greek language) · fr proto-hellénique (earliest form of the Greek language)