protean
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See also: Protean
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Ancient Greek Πρωτεύς (Prōteús, literally “first”), the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɹəʊ.tɪ.ən/, /pɹəʊˈtiː.ən/
- (US) enPR: prō'ti-ən, prō-tē'ən, IPA(key): /ˈpɹoʊ.tɪ.ən/, /pɹoʊˈtiː.ən/
,Audio (US) (file) Audio (US) (file)
Adjective[edit]
protean (comparative more protean, superlative most protean)
- Exceedingly variable; readily assuming different shapes or forms.
- Synonyms: multiform, polymorphic, polymorphous, shapeshifting; see also Thesaurus:multiform
- An amoeba is a protean animalcule.
- 1980, Gershon Legman, The New Limerick:
- […] the word's protean expressiveness has been observed in a xeroxlore item printed in Robert Anton Wilson's Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words […]
- 1987, William A. Henry III, Time Magazine Volume 129
- He loved to show off his protean talent.
- 2020 October 27, Daphne Merkin, “Shifting the Focus From Sylvia Plath’s Tragic Death to Her Brilliant Life”, in The New York Times[1], ISSN 0362-4331:
- In the intervening decades she has become a protean figure, an emblem of different things to different people, depending upon their viewpoint — a visionary, a victim, a martyr, a feminist icon, a schizophrenic, a virago, a prisoner of gender — or, perhaps, a genius, as both Plath and Hughes maintained during her lifetime.
- Alternative letter-case form of Protean (of or relating to Proteus).
Translations[edit]
exceedingly variable
|
of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “protean”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Further reading[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
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- English eponyms
- English words suffixed with -an