protagonist
See also: Protagonist
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”).
Surface analysis prot- (“first”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
protagonist (plural protagonists)
- (authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.
- Antonym: antagonist
- A leading person in a contest; a principal performer.
- (proscribed) An advocate or champion of a cause or course of action.
Usage notesEdit
The use of protagonist to mean a proponent or supporter of a cause is a 20th century development that may have been influenced by the misunderstanding that the first syllable of the word is the prefix pro-, meaning favouring.[1] This usage is widely considered to be erroneous.[2][3]
Coordinate termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
main character
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leading person in a contest
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advocate
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Further readingEdit
- protagonist in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- protagonist in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ “protagonist” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
- ^ Pinker, Steven (2014) The Sense of Style, New York, New York: Penguin, →ISBN
- ^ Feloni, Richard (30 November 2015), “The 58 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases”, in The Independent, Independent Print Limited
DanishEdit
NounEdit
protagonist c (singular definite protagonisten, plural indefinite protagonister)
- (literature) protagonist
- Antonym: hovedperson
DeclensionEdit
Declension of protagonist
| common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | protagonist | protagonisten | protagonister | protagonisterne |
| genitive | protagonists | protagonistens | protagonisters | protagonisternes |