pro-form

[ proh-fawrm ]
/ ˈproʊˌfɔrm /

noun Grammar.

a word used to replace or substitute for a word, phrase, or clause belonging to a given grammatical class, as a pronoun used to replace a noun or noun phrase, there used to replace an adverb or adverbial phrase of place, as in I parked the car near the entrance and left it there, or so used to substitute for a clause, as in Have they come? I think so.

Origin of pro-form

First recorded in 1960–65

Words nearby pro-form

pro-busing, pro-chinese, pro-choice, pro-communist, pro-european, pro-form, pro-german, pro-growth, pro-life, pro-oestrus, pro-rata

British Dictionary definitions for pro-form

pro-form

noun

a word having grammatical function but assuming the meaning of an antecedent word or phrase for which it substitutes the word ``does'' is a pro-form for ``understands Greek'' in ``I can't understand Greek but he does''