progress

See also: Progress

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English progresse, 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”). Displaced native Old English forþgang.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: prō'grĕs, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹəʊɡɹɛs/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: prä'grĕs, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑɡɹɛs/, /-ɹəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹoʊɡɹɛs/
• Rhymes: -əʊɡɹɛs, -ɒɡɹɛs

Noun

progress (usually 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.]

   Science has made extraordinary progress in the last fifty years.

   • 1983, Gene Wolfe, chapter XXVIII, in The Citadel of the Autarch (The Book of the New Sun; 4), New York: Timescape, →ISBN, page 239:

     You wish for progress? The Ascians have it. They are deafened by it, crazed by the death of Nature till they are ready to accept Erebus and the rest as gods.

   • 2012 January, Stephen Ledoux, “Behaviorism at 100”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 1, page 60:

     Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.

3. An official journey made by a monarch or other high personage; a state journey, a circuit. [from 15th c.]
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 7, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     ... Queen Elizabeth in one of her progresses, stopping at Crawley to breakfast, was so delighted with some remarkably fine Hampshire beer which was then presented to her by the Crawley of the day (a handsome gentleman with a trim beard and a good leg), that she forthwith erected Crawley into a borough to send two members to Parliament ...

   • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 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.]
   • 1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     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

• To make progress is often used instead of the verb progress. This allows complex modification of progress in ways that cannot be well approximated by adverbs modifying the verb. See Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

Derived terms

• anti-progress
• cross-progress
• in progress
• practice makes progress
• progress bar
• royal progress
• work in progress

 

Translations

movement or advancement through a series of events, or points in time

• Bulgarian: напре́дване (bg) n (naprédvane)
• Danish: fremrykning c
• Dutch: voortgang (nl) m
• Finnish: eteneminen (fi), edistyminen (fi), edistys (fi), kulku (fi), menossa (in progress), kehitys (fi), kehityksessä (in progress)
• Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌼𐌲𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 f (framgahts)
• Hungarian: folyamat (hu)
• Latin: prōgressus m
• Malayalam: പുരോഗതി (ml) (purōgati)
• Polish: postęp (pl) m
• Russian: продвиже́ние (ru) n (prodvižénije)
• Swedish: framryckning (sv) c

advancement to a more developed state

• Albanian: progres (sq) m
• Arabic: تَقَدُّم m (taqaddum)

  Egyptian Arabic: تقدم m (taʔaddum)

• Armenian: առաջընթաց (hy) (aṙaǰəntʻacʻ)
• Azerbaijani: tərəqqi (az), proqress, irəliləmə, irəliləyiş
• Belarusian: прагрэ́с (be) m (prahrés)
• Bengali: প্রগতি (bn) (progotoi), উন্নতি (bn) (unnôti), তরক্কী (bn) (tôrôkkī)
• Bulgarian: прогре́с (bg) m (progrés), напре́дък (bg) m (naprédǎk)
• Burmese: တိုးတက်ခြင်း (tui:takhkrang:)
• Catalan: avenç (ca) m, progrés (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 進步 / 进步 (zeon³ bou⁶)

  Dungan: җинбу (žinbu)

  Hokkien: 進步 / 进步 (zh-min-nan) (chìn-pō͘)

  Mandarin: 進步 / 进步 (zh) (jìnbù)

• Czech: pokrok (cs) m
• Danish: fremskridt n
• Dutch: vooruitgang (nl) m
• Estonian: areng (et), progress (et)
• Finnish: edistys (fi)
• French: progrès (fr) m
• Georgian: წინსვლა (c̣insvla), პროგრესი (ṗrogresi)
• German: Fortschritt (de) m
• Greek: πρόοδος (el) f (próodos)

  Ancient: προκοπή f (prokopḗ)

• Haitian Creole: pwogrè
• Hebrew: הִתקַדְמוּת f (hitkadmút)
• Hindi: प्रगति (hi) f (pragti), उन्नति (hi) f (unnati), तरक़्क़ी f (taraqqī)
• Hungarian: haladás (hu), fejlődés (hu)
• Icelandic: framför f, framsókn (is) f
• Italian: progresso (it) m
• Japanese: 進歩 (ja) (しんぽ, shinpo)
• Kazakh: прогресс (progress), жақсарыс (jaqsarys), озықтық (ozyqtyq), оңалыс (oñalys), ілгерілік (ılgerılık)
• Khmer: វឌ្ឍន (km) (vŏətthĕəʼnĕəʼ)
• Korean: 진보(進步) (ko) (jinbo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: pêşketin (ku), pêşveçûn (ku)

• Kyrgyz: прогресс (progress)
• Lao: ຄວາມກ້າວໜ້າ (khuām kāo nā)
• Latin: prōgressus m
• Latvian: progress m
• Lithuanian: progresas m, pažangà f
• Luxembourgish: Progrès m, Fortschrëtt m
• Macedonian: напредок (mk) m (napredok), прогрес m (progres)
• Malay: kemajuan (ms)
• Malayalam: പുരോഗതി (ml) (purōgati), പുരോഗമനം (purōgamanaṁ)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: дэвшил (mn) (devšil)

  Mongolian: ᠳᠡᠪᠰᠢᠯ (debsil)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: framgang m

• Old English: forþgang m
• Pali: vaḍḍhana n
• Pashto: پرمختګ m (pərməxtag), ترقي (ps) f (taraqī)
• Persian: پیشْرَفْت (fa) (pišraft), تَرَقّی (fa) (taraqqi), پِروگْرِس (perogres)
• Polish: postęp (pl) m
• Portuguese: progresso (pt) m
• Romanian: progres (ro) n
• Russian: прогре́сс (ru) m (progréss)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на̀предак m, про̀грес m

  Roman: nàpredak (sh) m, prògres (sh) m

• Slovak: pokrok m
• Slovene: napredek (sl) m
• Spanish: progreso (es) m
• Swedish: framsteg (sv) n, framgång (sv) c
• Tagalog: pagsulong, sasulong
• Tajik: пешрафт (pešraft), прогресс (progress), тараққӣ (taraqqi), тараққиёт (taraqqiyot)
• Thai: การพัฒนา (th) (gaan-pát-tá-naa)
• Turkish: ilerleme (tr), terakkî etme (obsolescent), terakki (tr), terakkiyat (archaic)
• Turkmen: progres, ýetişik
• Ukrainian: прогре́с m (prohrés)
• Urdu: تَرَقّی f (taraqqī)
• Uyghur: تەرەققىيات (tereqqiyat)
• Uzbek: progress (uz), taraqqiyot (uz)
• Vietnamese: tiến bộ (vi) (進步), sự tiến bộ (vi)
• Walloon: progrès (wa) m

official journey

• Finnish: vierailu (fi), valtiovierailu (fi)

journey forward; travel

• Bulgarian: ход (bg) m (hod)
• Finnish: kulkeminen (fi), kulku (fi), matka (fi)

movement onwards or forwards

• Arabic: تَقَدُّم m (taqaddum)
• Armenian: առաջընթաց (hy) (aṙaǰəntʻacʻ)
• Azerbaijani: irəliləyiş, irəliləmə
• Bulgarian: напре́дък (bg) m (naprédǎk)
• Catalan: progrés (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 進步 / 进步 (zh) (jìnbù), 進行 / 进行 (zh) (jìnxíng)

• Czech: pokrok (cs) m, posun m
• Danish: fremskridt n
• Dutch: vordering (nl) f, voortgang (nl) m, vooruitgang (nl) m
• Esperanto: progreso (eo)
• Estonian: kulg, edenemine
• Finnish: eteneminen (fi), kulku (fi)
• French: progrès (fr) m, amélioration (fr) f
• Galician: progreso (gl) m
• Georgian: წინსვლა (c̣insvla)
• German: Fortschritt (de) m
• Greek: πρόοδος (el) f (próodos), εξέλιξη (el) f (exélixi)
• Haitian Creole: pwogrè
• Hebrew: הִתְקַדְּמוּת f (hitqadmut)
• Hindi: प्रगति (hi) f (pragti), उन्नति (hi) f (unnati)
• Hungarian: haladás (hu), előrehaladás (hu)
• Ido: progreso (io)
• Irish: forás m
• Italian: progresso (it) m
• Japanese: 進歩 (ja) (しんぽ, shinpo), 進行 (ja) (しんこう, shinkō)
• Korean: 진보(進步) (ko) (jinbo), 진행(進行) (ko) (jinhaeng), 전진(前進) (ko) (jeonjin)
• Latvian: progress m
• Luxembourgish: Progrès m, Fortschrëtt m
• Macedonian: напредок (mk) m (napredok), прогрес m (progres)
• Malayalam: പുരോഗമനം (purōgamanaṁ)
• Maori: kaneke, kauneke
• Polish: postęp (pl) m
• Portuguese: progresso (pt) m
• Russian: прогре́сс (ru) m (progréss), продвиже́ние (ru) n (prodvižénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: (abstract) piseach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на̀предак m, про̀грес m

  Roman: nàpredak (sh) m, prògres (sh) m

• Spanish: progreso (es) m
• Swedish: framsteg (sv) n (improvement)
• Tagalog: pagsulong, sasulong
• Turkish: ilerleme (tr)
• Ukrainian: прогре́с m (prohrés)
• Vietnamese: tiến bộ (vi) (進步)
• Walloon: progrès (wa) m

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: prəgrĕs', IPA^(key): /pɹəˈɡɹɛs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

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.

   Visitors progress through the museum at their own pace.

   • 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     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 develop.

   Societies progress unevenly.

   1. (by extension) To improve; to become better or more complete.
3. (transitive) To expedite.
   • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 266:

     Or […] they came to progress matters in which Dudley had taken a hand, and left defrauded or bound over to the king.

Antonyms

• regress
• retrogress

Translations

to move forward

• Bulgarian: напредвам (bg) (napredvam)
• Danish: avancere
• Esperanto: progresi (eo)
• Finnish: edetä (fi)
• French: progresser (fr)
• Greek: προχωρώ (el) (prochoró), προχωράω (el) (prochoráo), εξελίσσομαι (el) (exelíssomai)
• Hungarian: halad (hu)
• Italian: avanzare (it)
• Latin: prōficiō
• Portuguese: seguir (pt)
• Romanian: progresa (ro)
• Thai: ก้าวหน้า (th) (gâao-nâa)

to become better or more complete

• Armenian: զարգանալ (hy) (zarganal)
• Bulgarian: развивам се (razvivam se), прогресирам (bg) (progresiram)
• Danish: fuldende
• Dutch: vorderingen maken
• Finnish: edistyä (fi)
• Greek: προοδεύω (el) (proodévo), σημειώνω πρόοδο (simeióno próodo)

  Ancient: προκόπτω (prokóptō)

• Hungarian: fejlődik (hu), halad (hu)
• Italian: progredire (it)
• Latin: prōficiō
• Malayalam: പുരോഗമിക്കുക (purōgamikkuka)
• Maori: kaunekenga
• Portuguese: progredir (pt)
• Thai: ก้าวหน้า (th) (gâao-nâa), พัฒนา (th) (pát-tá-naa)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} progressar (ca)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} progresi (eo)
• French: ^{(please verify)} progresser (fr)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} progresar (io)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 进程 (zh) (jìnchéng)，^{(please verify)} 过程 (zh) (guòchéng)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} progresar (es)

Related terms

• congress
• egress
• grade
• ingress
• progression
• progressive
• progressivism
• progressivist
• regress
• retrogress

 

Further reading

• “progress”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “progress”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Latvian

Etymology

Via other European languages, ultimately borrowed from Latin prōgressus (“an advance”), from the participle stem of prōgredī (“to go forward, advance, develop”), from pro- (“forth, before”) + gradi (“to walk, go”).

Noun

progress m (1st declension)

1. progress (development, esp. to a higher, fuller, more advanced state; transition from a lower to a higher level)

   Synonyms: attīstība, evolūcija

   sociālais progress ― social progress

   cilvēces progress ― humanity's progress

   ražošanas efektivitātes paaugstināšanās pamats ir zinātniski tehniskais progress ― the basis for the increase in production effectivity is scientific and technical progress

   mākslas progress - tā nav vienkārša attīstība ― art progress: this is no simple evolution

Declension

Declension of progress (1st declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	progress	progresi
accusative (akuzatīvs)	progresu	progresus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	progresa	progresu
dative (datīvs)	progresam	progresiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	progresu	progresiem
locative (lokatīvs)	progresā	progresos
vocative (vokatīvs)	progres	progresi

Related terms

• progresēt
• progresija
• progresīvs