protagonist
See also: Protagonist
English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”). By surface analysis, prot- (“first”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /pɹəˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/, /pɹəʊˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /pɹoʊˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/, /pɹəˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /pɹəˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/
Noun
[edit]protagonist (plural protagonists)
- (authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.
- Antonym: antagonist
- A leading person in a contest; a principal performer.
- (proscribed) An advocate or champion of a cause or course of action.
- 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 198:
- It was toward the end of the sixteenth century that the communities in Venice, Mantua, Ferrara, Padua, and Casale Monferrato, inspired by the Renaissance music, wanted to introduce some modernization into the service. The greatest protagonist of the idea was the encyclopedic Jewish scholar Leon of Modena.
Usage notes
[edit]The use of protagonist to mean a proponent or supporter of a cause is a 20th century development that may have been influenced by the misunderstanding that the first syllable of the word is the prefix pro-, meaning favouring.[1] This usage is widely considered to be erroneous.[2][3]
Antonyms
[edit]Coordinate terms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]main character
|
leading person in a contest
|
advocate
|
References
[edit]- ^ “protagonist”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
- ^ Pinker, Steven (2014), The Sense of Style, New York, New York: Penguin, →ISBN
- ^ Feloni, Richard (30 November 2015), “The 58 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases”, in The Independent[1], Independent Print Limited
Further reading
[edit]- “protagonist”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “protagonist”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Danish
[edit]Noun
[edit]protagonist c (singular definite protagonisten, plural indefinite protagonister)
- (literature) protagonist
- Synonym: hovedperson
Declension
[edit]| common gender |
singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | protagonist | protagonisten | protagonister | protagonisterne |
| genitive | protagonists | protagonistens | protagonisters | protagonisternes |
Further reading
[edit]Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Ultimately from Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]protagonist m (plural protagonisten, no diminutive)
- protagonist, main character [from 18th c.]
- 1780, M. C. Curtius, Aristoteles Verhandeling over de dichtkunst, tr. from German, publ. by Arend Fokke Simonsz., page 105.
- Hy voerde nog een perſoon in, en verdeelde het Treurſpel in twee rollen, van welke de eerste Acteur de hoofdrol ſpeelde en daarvan de Protagonist heette;
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- Synonyms: hoofdpersonage, hoofdpersoon
- 1780, M. C. Curtius, Aristoteles Verhandeling over de dichtkunst, tr. from German, publ. by Arend Fokke Simonsz., page 105.
Antonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from French protagoniste.
Noun
[edit]protagonist m (plural protagoniști)
Declension
[edit]| singular | plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | ||
| nominative-accusative | protagonist | protagonistul | protagoniști | protagoniștii | |
| genitive-dative | protagonist | protagonistului | protagoniști | protagoniștilor | |
| vocative | protagonistule | protagoniștilor | |||
Swedish
[edit]Noun
[edit]protagonist c
- (authorship) a protagonist
- Antonym: antagonist
Declension
[edit]| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | protagonist | protagonists |
| definite | protagonisten | protagonistens | |
| plural | indefinite | protagonister | protagonisters |
| definite | protagonisterna | protagonisternas |
References
[edit]Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ-
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms prefixed with prot-
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English proscribed terms
- English terms with quotations
- en:Fictional characters
- en:Narratology
- en:People
- en:Stock characters
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Literature
- Dutch terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɪst
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -en
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Dutch terms with quotations
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian masculine nouns
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns