Wordwyrt

prose

/pˈɹəʊz/PROHZ
/pˈɹoʊz/PROHZ

Meaningstraightforward

Common meaning: ordinary written language

‘forward, for’ + ‘to turn’ → prose

Journey through time

  • pro — Latin pro- “forward, for” (path traced)
  • se — Latin vertō, vertī, versum “to turn” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as prosa.

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√WART‘turn, turn oneself, to become, to be’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 359, p. 743 · scan
  2. Latinpro- + uersus‘forward, for + to turn’source
  3. Latinprosasource
  4. Frenchprosesource
  5. Middle Englishprosesource
  6. Englishprose‘ordinary written language’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin prosa, which Skeat analyses as pro- ‘forward, for’ + uersus ‘to turn’.

Roots

Related words

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