Proto-

protophysics, protometal, protoword

I had heard of Caturday when I wrote the piece, but I’d understood that it was a proto-lolcats practice that was different from the actual lolcats meme.

In many ways, both good and bad, he was a proto-Justin Bieber—a teenage dream to be bought and sold, with what would turn out to be very little regard for his own humanity.

protograph, protolacteal, prototype, protoplasm

protogynous, protandrous

protoderm, protocneme

All Indo-European languages from Albanian to Zazaki are descended from Proto-Indo-European.

protoxide, protosulfide, protiodide

protophilic, protolysis

proto-calcium; proto-magnesium

prototroch, protoconid, protoconule