pra-

Inherited from Old Czech pra- (“before (in time)”), from Proto-Slavic *pra-.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [pra ]

pra-

1. great- (removed by one generation from)

   ‎pra- + ‎dědeček → ‎pradědeček (“great-grandfather”)

   ‎pra- + ‎babička → ‎prababička (“great-grandmother”)

2. fore- (ancestor)

   ‎pra- + ‎otec → ‎praotec (“forefather”)

   ‎pra- + ‎máti → ‎pramáti (“foremother”)

3. primaeval, primary

   ‎pra- + ‎les → ‎prales (“primaeval forest”)

   ‎pra- + ‎člověk → ‎pračlověk (“primaeval man”)

   ‎pra- + ‎hmota → ‎prahmota (“primary matter”)

4. (linguistics) proto-

   Synonym: proto-

   ‎pra- + ‎čeština → ‎pračeština (“Proto-Czech”)

   ‎pra- + ‎slovanština → ‎praslovanština (“Proto-Slavic”)

5. very, extremely (intensifying the meaning of the original adjective)

   ‎pra- + ‎podivný → ‎prapodivný (“very strange”)

   ‎pra- + ‎malý → ‎pramalý (“extremely small”)

• (very): prach-

• “pra-”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• pra-/prach- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Borrowed from Russian пра- (pra-) and Polish pra-.

• IPA^(key): /pra/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: pra

pra-

1. ur-; primitive; primordial; prehistoric

   ‎pra- + ‎arbaro (“forest”) → ‎praarbaro (“primordial forest”)

   ‎pra- + ‎besto (“animal”) → ‎prabesto (“prehistoric animal”)

   ‎pra- + ‎homo (“human being”) → ‎prahomo (“primitive man”)

2. fore-

   ‎pra- + ‎patroj (“fathers”) → ‎prapatroj (“forefathers”)

   ‎pra- + ‎ulo (“person”) → ‎praulo (“ancestor”)

3. great-

   ‎pra- + ‎avo (“grandfather”) → ‎praavo (“great-grandfather”)

   ‎pra- + ‎onklino (“aunt”) → ‎praonklino (“great-aunt”)

   ‎pra- + ‎nepo (“grandson”) → ‎pranepo (“great-grandson”)

Learned borrowing from Old Javanese pra-, from Sanskrit प्र- (pra-), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pra-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-.

pra-

1. pre-, before; earlier in time; beforehand

   prasekolah ― preschool

   prasejarah ― prehistory

   prakata ― preface

• “pra-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

There are two theories as to whence the prefix came:

• From pera- from Sanskrit प्र- (pra-) (either via Thai ประ (bprà)^[1] or Old Javanese pra-) from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pra-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-; later callibration of spelling in post-independent Malayan and Malaysian standard with Indonesian counterpart which directly borrowed from modern Javanese ꦥꦿ- (pra-)
• Learned borrowing from Latin prae-.^[2]

Older Sanskrit loans like perdana (from प्रधान pradhāna) and perkara (from प्रकार prakāra) are more likely to suffix with per-.

• IPA^(key): [pra-]
• Hyphenation: pra-

pra- (Jawi spelling ڤرا‌‌ -)

2. Before; earlier in time; beforehand; pre-.

   Antonym: pasca-

   prasekolah ― preschool

• “pra-” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Borrowed from Sanskrit प्र- (pra-), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pra-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-.

pra-

1. a part of.

• par-

• → Indonesian: pra- (learned)
  • → Malay: pra- (learned)

pra-

1. alternative spelling of para-

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

• IPA^(key): /pra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

pra-

1. proto-, pre-, ur-

   ‎pra- + ‎porządek → ‎praporządek (“preorder”)

   ‎pra- + ‎język → ‎prajęzyk (“proto-language”)

   ‎pra- + ‎stary → ‎prastary (“ancient”)

2. prepended to ancestors before grandparents; great-

   ‎pra- + ‎dziadek → ‎pradziadek (“great-grandfather”)

   ‎pra- + ‎babcia → ‎prababcia (“great-grandmother”)

3. prepended to descendants after grandchildren; great-

   ‎pra- + ‎wnuk → ‎prawnuk (“great-grandson”)

   ‎pra- + ‎wnuczka → ‎prawnuczka (“great-granddaughter”)

• proto-

• pra- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

pra- (Cyrillic spelling пра-)

1. appended to ancestors before grandparents

   ‎pra- + ‎dȅda → ‎pradeda

   ‎pra- + ‎bȁba → ‎pràbaba

2. ur-; primitive; primordial; prehistoric

   ‎pra- + ‎postojbina → ‎prapostojbina (“urheimat”)

   ‎pra- + ‎ìstōrija → ‎praistorija (“prehistory”)

• šukun-
• čukun-

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

pra-

1. great- (removed by one generation from)

   ‎pra- + ‎ded → ‎praded

2. (linguistics) proto-

   ‎pra- + ‎slovanština → ‎praslovanština

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pra-.

• IPA^(key): /práː-/

prȃ-

1. great- (removed by one generation from)

   ‎pra- + ‎ded → ‎praded

2. (linguistics) proto-

   ‎pra- + ‎slovanščina → ‎praslovanščina

• “pra-”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025