different between protagonist vs agony

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????????????? (pr?tag?nist?s, “a chief actor”), from ?????? (prôtos, “first”) + ????????? (ag?nist?s, “a combatant, pleader, actor”).

Surface analysis prot- (“first”) +? agonist (“combatant, participant”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p???tæ.??.n?st/
• (US) IPA^(key): /p?o??tæ.??.n?st/

Noun

protagonist (plural protagonists)

1. (authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.

   Antonym: antagonist

2. A leading person in a contest; a principal performer.
3. (proscribed) An advocate or champion of a cause or course of action.

Usage notes

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. This usage is widely considered to be erroneous.

Coordinate terms

• deuteragonist
• tritagonist

Related terms

• agonist
• agonistes

Translations

Further reading

• protagonist in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• protagonist in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

Danish

Noun

protagonist c (singular definite protagonisten, plural indefinite protagonister)

1. (literature) protagonist

   Synonym: hovedperson

Declension

Further reading

• “protagonist” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek ????????????? (pr?tag?nist?s). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pro?.ta?.?o??n?st/
• Hyphenation: pro?ta?go?nist
• Rhymes: -?st

Noun

protagonist m (plural protagonisten)

1. protagonist, main character [from 18th c.]
   • 1780, M. C. Curtius, Aristoteles Verhandeling over de dichtkunst, tr. from German, publ. by Arend Fokke Simonsz., page 105.

   Synonyms: hoofdpersonage, hoofdpersoon

Antonyms

• antagonist

Derived terms

• protagonistisch

Romanian

Etymology

From French protagoniste

Noun

protagonist m (plural protagoni?ti)

1. protagonist

Declension

English

Etymology

14th century, via Old French [Term?] and Latin [Term?]; from Ancient Greek ?????? (ag?nía, “emulation, competition, struggle”), from ???? (ag?n, “contest”). Specifically of the struggle that precedes death (mortal agony) from the 1540s.

The sense of "extreme pain" from c. 1600.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?æ.??.ni?/

Noun

agony (countable and uncountable, plural agonies)

1. Extreme pain.
2. (biblical) The sufferings of Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.
3. Violent contest or striving.
   • 1849, Thomas Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, Chapter 10

     The world is convulsed by the agonies of great nations.

4. Paroxysm of joy; keen emotion.
5. The last struggle of life; death struggle.

Synonyms

• anguish, torment, throe, distress, pang, suffering
• See also Thesaurus:agony

Antonyms

• (extreme pain): ecstasy

Related terms

• agon
• agonal
• agonist, antagonist, protagonist
• agonistes
• agonize, agonise

Translations

Anagrams

• Goyan