proto-form
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of proto-form
First recorded in 1960–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rather, the infectious yawn, the one that comes in response to someone else’s, seemed to be a special, social adaptation—a proto-form of empathy, perhaps—if not the index of a higher consciousness.
From Slate • Mar. 2, 2017
The proto-form of the motorcycle was simply a velocipede with a steam-engine jammed in it, made in France in 1868.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
