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Etymology 1[edit]

From Old French progres (a going forward), from Latin prōgressus (an advance), from the participle stem of prōgredī (to go forward, advance, develop), from pro- (forth, before) + gradi (to walk, go).



progress (countable and uncountable, plural progresses)

  1. Movement or advancement through a series of events, or points in time; development through time. [from 15th c.]
    Testing for the new antidote is currently in progress.
  2. Specifically, advancement to a higher or more developed state; development, growth. [from 15th c.]
    • 2012 January 1, Stephen Ledoux, “Behaviorism at 100”, in American Scientist[1], volume 100, number 1, page 60:
    Science has made extraordinary progress in the last fifty years.
  3. An official journey made by a monarch or other high personage; a state journey, a circuit. [from 15th c.]
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 124:
      With the king about to go on progress, the trials and executions were deliberately timed.
  4. (now rare) A journey forward; travel. [from 15th c.]
    • 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders:
      Now Tim began to be struck with these loitering progresses along the garden boundaries in the gloaming, and wondered what they boded.
  5. Movement onwards or forwards or towards a specific objective or direction; advance. [from 16th c.]
    The thick branches overhanging the path made progress difficult.
Usage notes[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From the noun. Lapsed into disuse in the 17th century, except in the US. Considered an Americanism on reintroduction to use in the UK.



progress (third-person singular simple present progresses, present participle progressing, simple past and past participle progressed)

  1. (intransitive) to move, go, or proceed forward; to advance.
    They progress through the museum.
      Scotland needed a victory by eight points to have a realistic chance of progressing to the knock-out stages, and for long periods of a ferocious contest looked as if they might pull it off.
  2. (intransitive) to improve; to become better or more complete.
    Societies progress unevenly.
  3. (transitive) To move (something) forward; to advance, to expedite.
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 266:
      Or […] they came to progress matters in which Dudley had taken a hand, and left defrauded or bound over to the king.

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]







progress m (1st declension)

  1. progress (development, esp. to a higher, fuller, more advanced state; transition from a lower to a higher level)
    sociālais progresssocial progress
    cilvēces progresshumanity's progress
    ražošanas efektivitātes paaugstināšanās pamats ir zinātniski tehniskais progressthe basis for the increase in production effectivity is scientific and technical progress
    mākslas progress - tā nav vienkārša attīstībaart progress: this is no simple evolution



Related terms[edit]