See protean in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for protean meaning in English (8.9kB)
{
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"2": "grc",
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"lit": "first"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek Πρωτεύς (Prōteús, literally “first”)",
"name": "bor"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Ancient Greek Πρωτεύς (Prōteús, literally “first”), the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more protean",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
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"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
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{
"text": "An amoeba is a protean animalcule.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1954 February 15, Henry E. Michelson, “The Syndrome of Lupus Erythematosus”, in Modern Medicine, volume 22, number 4, Minneapolis, Minn.: Modern Medicine Publications, Inc., page 96",
"text": "Virus infection of the blood and bone marrow is probably responsible for all forms of the disease. The viral theory of origin accounts for the protean manifestations of the condition.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1980, Gershon Legman, The New Limerick",
"text": "[…] the word's protean expressiveness has been observed in a xeroxlore item printed in Robert Anton Wilson's Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1987, William A. Henry III, Time Magazine, volume 129",
"text": "He loved to show off his protean talent.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 October 27, Daphne Merkin, “Shifting the Focus From Sylvia Plath’s Tragic Death to Her Brilliant Life”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Exceedingly variable; readily assuming different shapes or forms."
],
"id": "en-protean-en-adj-xMHEcHVl",
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "multiform"
},
{
"word": "polymorphic"
},
{
"word": "polymorphous"
},
{
"word": "shapeshifting"
},
{
"word": "multiform"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "mnogoobrazen",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "многообразен"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "mnogolik",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "многолик"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteic"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "protéovský"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteïsch"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "wisselvallig"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "veelvormig"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "monimuotoinen"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "muuntautumiskykyinen"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "kameleonttimainen"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "variable"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "changeant"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "instable"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "protéiforme"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "vielgestaltig"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteisch"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "zmienny"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
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"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "protejski"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "nestalan"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteico"
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"word": "Protean"
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"Alternative letter-case form of Protean (of or relating to Proteus)."
],
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],
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"_dis1": "9 91",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "proteïsch"
},
{
"_dis1": "9 91",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "protéique"
},
{
"_dis1": "9 91",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "proteusartig"
},
{
"_dis1": "9 91",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "protejski"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpɹəʊ.tɪ.ən/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/pɹəʊˈtiː.ən/",
"tags": [
"UK"
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},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpɹoʊ.tɪ.ən/",
"tags": [
"US"
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},
{
"ipa": "/pɹoʊˈtiː.ən/",
"tags": [
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},
{
"homophone": "protein (dated)"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-protean.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/42/En-us-protean.ogg/En-us-protean.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/En-us-protean.ogg",
"tags": [
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"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b1/En-us-protean-2.ogg/En-us-protean-2.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/En-us-protean-2.ogg",
"tags": [
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},
{
"enpr": "prō'ti-ən"
}
],
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}
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"name": "bor"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Ancient Greek Πρωτεύς (Prōteús, literally “first”), the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.",
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"plural"
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{
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],
"glosses": [
"A protein that has been slightly modified by water, dilute acid, or enzymes, but not modified to the extent of a metaprotein."
],
"id": "en-protean-en-noun-n-qy33d1",
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"(biochemistry) A protein that has been slightly modified by water, dilute acid, or enzymes, but not modified to the extent of a metaprotein."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "Protea"
}
],
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"forms": [
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"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1954 February 15, Henry E. Michelson, “The Syndrome of Lupus Erythematosus”, in Modern Medicine, volume 22, number 4, Minneapolis, Minn.: Modern Medicine Publications, Inc., page 96",
"text": "Virus infection of the blood and bone marrow is probably responsible for all forms of the disease. The viral theory of origin accounts for the protean manifestations of the condition.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1980, Gershon Legman, The New Limerick",
"text": "[…] the word's protean expressiveness has been observed in a xeroxlore item printed in Robert Anton Wilson's Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1987, William A. Henry III, Time Magazine, volume 129",
"text": "He loved to show off his protean talent.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 October 27, Daphne Merkin, “Shifting the Focus From Sylvia Plath’s Tragic Death to Her Brilliant Life”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Exceedingly variable; readily assuming different shapes or forms."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "multiform"
},
{
"word": "polymorphic"
},
{
"word": "polymorphous"
},
{
"word": "shapeshifting"
},
{
"word": "multiform"
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]
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"extra": "of or relating to Proteus",
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"Alternative letter-case form of Protean (of or relating to Proteus)."
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{
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"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "mnogoobrazen",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "многообразен"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "mnogolik",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "многолик"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteic"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "protéovský"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteïsch"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "wisselvallig"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "veelvormig"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "monimuotoinen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "muuntautumiskykyinen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "kameleonttimainen"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "variable"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "changeant"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "instable"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "protéiforme"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "vielgestaltig"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteisch"
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{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"tags": [
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"word": "zmienny"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "protejski"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "nestalan"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "exceedingly variable",
"word": "proteico"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "proteïsch"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "protéique"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
"word": "proteusartig"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "of or pertaining to Proteus; characteristic of Proteus",
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],
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"name": "bor"
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],
"links": [
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[
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[
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[
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"acid"
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[
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[
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],
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"(biochemistry) A protein that has been slightly modified by water, dilute acid, or enzymes, but not modified to the extent of a metaprotein."
],
"topics": [
"biochemistry",
"biology",
"chemistry",
"microbiology",
"natural-sciences",
"physical-sciences"
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"audio": "en-us-protean.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/42/En-us-protean.ogg/En-us-protean.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/En-us-protean.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-protean-2.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b1/En-us-protean-2.ogg/En-us-protean-2.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/En-us-protean-2.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
},
{
"enpr": "prō'ti-ən"
}
],
"word": "protean"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.