protasis

[ prot-uh-sis ]

/ ˈprɒt ə sɪs /

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noun, plural prot·a·ses

[prot-uh-seez]. /ˈprɒt əˌsiz/.

Grammar. the clause expressing the condition in a conditional sentence, in English usually beginning with if.Compare apodosis.

the first part of an ancient drama, in which the characters are introduced and the subject is proposed.Compare catastasis, catastrophe (def. 4), epitasis.

(in Aristotelian logic) a proposition, especially one used as a premise in a syllogism.

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Origin of protasis

First recorded in 1610–20; from Late Latin: “introduction in a drama,” from Greek prótasis “proposition,” literally, “a stretching forward,” equivalent to pro-pro-² + tásis a stretching (ta-, verbid stem of teínein “to stretch” + -sis-sis)

Words nearby protasis

Protagoras, protamine, protandrous, protanomaly, protanopia, protasis, prote-, protea, protean, Proteas, protease

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use protasis in a sentence

The apodosis (qu'est-ce que je ferais) is omitted and only the protasis is expressed.
Contes Franais|Douglas Labaree Buffum
Positing what protasis would the contraction for such several schemes become a natural and necessary apodosis?
Ulysses|James Joyce
It is a protasis of the complex order, as M. Lysidas used to say.
A Tour Through The Pyrenees|Hippolyte Adolphe Taine
It went off, as G. assured M., exactly as the opening act of a piece—the protasis—should do.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 72, October, 1863|Various

It is the custom of lovers to abuse of the gorgiaques figures from the very protasis and exordium.
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884.|Various

British Dictionary definitions for protasis

protasis

/ (ˈprɒtəsɪs) /

noun plural -ses (-siːz)

logic grammar the antecedent of a conditional statement, such as it rains in if it rains the game will be cancelledCompare apodosis

(in classical drama) the introductory part of a play

Derived forms of protasis

protatic (prɒˈtætɪk), adjective

Word Origin for protasis

C17: via Latin from Greek: a proposal, from pro- before + teinein to extend

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012