- in favor of a proposition, opinion, etc.
- a proponent of an issue; a person who upholds the affirmative in a debate.
- an argument, consideration, vote, etc., for something.
Origin of pro1
- a professional.
- the pros, the professional athletic leagues, as of football, baseball, or basketball: He's sure to be signed by the pros.
Origin of pro2
Origin of pro3
- public relations officer.
- a prefix indicating favor for some party, system, idea, etc., without identity with the group (pro-British; pro-Communist; proslavery), having anti- as its opposite.
- a prefix of priority in space or time having especially a meaning of advancing or projecting forward or outward, and also used to indicate substitution, attached widely to stems not used as words: provision; prologue; proceed; produce; protract; procathedral; proconsul.
Origin of pro-1
- a prefix identical in meaning with pro-1, occurring in words borrowed from Greek (prodrome) or formed of Greek (and occasionally Latin) elements.
Origin of pro-2
Examples from the Web for pro
How did you make the transition from pro surfer to modeling?Anastasia Ashley, Surfer-Cum-Model, Rides The Viral Internet Wave
December 23, 2014
As Pro Publica recently noted, blacks age 15 to 19 have a 21 times greater chance of being killed by the police than white teens.Arabs Are the Michael Browns of Israel
December 3, 2014
In Massachusetts, for example, Baker is running as a pro-choice, pro same-sex marriage Republican nominee.Return of the Northeastern Republican
November 4, 2014
Another was Greg Jacob, a pro rugby player for Gaelic Athletic Association.The X Factor of Sex Invades Britain: Rebecca More’s ‘Sex Tour’ Enrages UK Politicians
October 20, 2014
Trying to motivate the Allies, he offered his assistance and cooperation to the profession as a whole, pro bono.My Grandfather's War: Recovering the Art the Nazis Stole
October 5, 2014
C4-6 are a reduplication, not unnatural indeed, but pro tanto tautological.Cyropaedia
“Yes, but not for motion without the ‘pro,’” objected de Spain.Nan of Music Mountain
Frank H. Spearman
You will never be happy if the pro and the con distress you alike.Diderot and the Encyclopdists
Don't you see that with Sawyer on pro there's a big hole in the line?Left End Edwards
Ralph Henry Barbour
The Catholics raised the banner "Pro religione et libertate!"The Story of Russia
R. Van Bergen, M.A.
- in favour of a motion, issue, course of action, etcCompare anti
- in favour of
- (usually plural) an argument or vote in favour of a proposal or motionSee also pros and cons
- (usually plural) a person who votes in favour of a proposal, motion, etc
- informal short for professional
- slang a prostitute
- professional practitioner
- informal short for professional
- Public Records Office
- public relations officer
- in favour of; supportingpro-Chinese
- acting as a substitute forproconsul; pronoun
- before in time or position; anterior; forwardprophase; procephalic; prognathous
Word Origin and History for pro
1866, shortening of professional (n.). The adjective is first recorded 1915 (in golfing's pro shop).
"a consideration or argument in favor," c.1400, from Latin pro (see pro-). Pro and con is attested from c.1400, short for pro and contra "for and against" (Latin pro et contra).
word-forming element meaning "forward, forth, toward the front" (e.g. proclaim, proceed); "beforehand, in advance" (prohibit, provide); "taking care of" (procure); "in place of, on behalf of" (proconsul, pronoun); from Latin pro "on behalf of, in place of, before, for, in exchange for, just as," which also was used as a prefix.
Also in some cases from cognate Greek pro "before, in front of, sooner," which also was used in Greek as a prefix (e.g. problem). Both the Latin and Greek words are from PIE *pro- (cf. Sanskrit pra- "before, forward, forth;" Gothic faura "before," Old English fore "before, for, on account of," fram "forward, from;" Old Irish roar "enough"), extended form of root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).
The common modern sense "in favor of, favoring" (e.g. pro-independence, pro-fluoridation, pro-Soviet) was not in classical Latin and is attested in English from early 19c.
- Earlier; before; prior to:progenitor.
- Anterior; in front of:procephalic.