protasis

[ prot-uh-sis ]

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.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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) /

nounplural -ses (-siːz)

logic grammar the antecedent of a conditional statement, such as it rains in if it rains the game will be cancelled: Compare apodosis
(in classical drama) the introductory part of a play

Origin of protasis

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

Derived forms of protasis

protatic (prɒˈtætɪk), adjective

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

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