protasis

American  

[prot-uh-sis] / ˈprɒt ə sɪs /

noun

protases plural

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

2. the first part of an ancient drama, in which the characters are introduced and the subject is proposed.

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

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protasis British  

/ ˈprɒtəsɪs, prɒˈtætɪk /

noun

1. logic grammar the antecedent of a conditional statement, such as it rains in if it rains the game will be cancelled Compare apodosis

2. (in classical drama) the introductory part of a play

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• protatic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• protases
  plural

Etymology

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 )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

protasis

“Here we catch a glimpse of the subjunctive in a conditional protasis shyly rising its timorous head above the narrative parapet.”

From The Guardian ● Sep. 5, 2019

Can a Hypothetical, whose protasis is false, be legitimate?

From Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Ward, Maisie

The protasis takes those tenses of the Subjunctive which are required by the Sequence of Tenses.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

It is the custom of lovers to abuse of the gorgiaques figures from the very protasis and exordium.

From Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884. A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside by Various

It consists of two parts, a protasis and an apodosis.

From The Simpkins Plot by Birmingham, George A.