progress

1400–50; late Middle English progresse (noun) < Latin prōgressus a going forward, equivalent to prōgred-, stem of prōgredī to advance ( prō- pro-¹ + -gredī, combining form of gradī to step; see grade) + -tus suffix of v. action

The English word progress (both noun and verb) has a curious history. The noun, which has been in English since the 15th century, ultimately comes from the Latin noun prōgressus “forward movement, advance (to a better place or state), growth, increase (as of years).” (Latin prōgressus is from the verb prōgredī “to come or go forward, advance, proceed, mature, grow old”).
The verb progress entered English in the second half of the 16th century in a functional shift of the noun to a verb (a functional shift, also called functional change, is a change in the grammatical function of a word, such as the noun fun having taken on adjective meanings).
In the 18th century, the verb progress was no longer common in Britain, but was used with regularity in the United States (George Washington, in a letter of 1791 writes, “The business of laying out the city [the new capital] is progressing.”) When the verb reentered British usage about 1800, it was regarded as an Americanism.
From its first appearance in English, the noun had the meaning “onward movement in space,” as well as the figurative sense “advancement to a further or higher stage”; from this developed the more specific reference to social and economic reform leading to a better state or condition.