What is "pro"

Pro \Pro\, prep. [L.; akin to prae before, Gr. ?, and E. for. See For, prep., and cf. Prior, a.] A Latin preposition signifying for, before, forth.

Pro confesso [L.] (Law), taken as confessed. The action of a court of equity on that portion of the pleading in a particular case which the pleading on the other side does not deny.

Pro rata. [L. See Prorate.] In proportion; proportion.

Pro re nata [L.] (Law), for the existing occasion; as matters are.

Pro \Pro\, adv. For, on, or in behalf of, the affirmative side; -- in contrast with con.

Pro and con, for and against, on the affirmative and on the negative side; as, they debated the question pro and con; -- formerly used also as a verb.

Pros and cons, the arguments or reasons on either side.

1866, shortening of professional (n.). The adjective is first recorded 1915 (in golfing's pro shop).

"a consideration or argument in favor," c.1400, from Latin pro (see pro-). Pro and con is attested from c.1400, short for pro and contra "for and against" (Latin pro et contra).

Etymology 1 n. An advantage of something, especially when contrasted with its disadvantages (''cons''). prep. In favor of. Etymology 2

n. 1 a professional sportsman 2 (context colloquial English) professional Etymology 3

n. A prostitute.

1. n. an athlete who plays for pay [syn: professional] [ant: amateur]

2. an argument in favor of a proposal [ant: con]

adj. in favor of (an action or proposal etc.); "a pro vote" [ant: anti]

adv. on the affirmative side [ant: con]

PRO or Pro may refer to:

In category theory, a PRO is a strict monoidal category whose objects are the natural numbers (including zero), and whose tensor product is given on objects by the addition on numbers.

Some examples of PROs:

• the discrete category N of natural numbers,
• the category FinSet of natural numbers and functions between them,
• the category Bij of natural numbers and bijections,
• the category '''Bij '''of natural numbers, equipped with the braid group ''B ''as the automorphisms of each ''n ''(and no other morphisms).
• the category Inj of natural numbers and injections,
• the simplex category Δ of natural numbers and monotonic functions.

The name PRO is an abbreviation of "PROduct category". PROBs and PROPs are defined similarly with the additional requirement for the category to be braided, and to have a symmetry (that is, a permutation), respectively. All of the examples above are PROPs, except for the simplex category and Bij; the latter is a '''PROB '''but not a PROP, and the former is not even a PROB.

In generative linguistics, PRO (called "big PRO", distinct from pro, "small pro" or " little pro") is a pronominal determiner phrase (DP) without phonological content. As such, it is part of the set of empty categories. The null pronoun PRO is postulated in the subject position of non-finite clauses. One property of PRO is that, when it occurs in a non-finite complement clause, it can be bound by the main clause subject ("subject control") or the main clause object ("object control"). The presence of PRO in non-finite clauses lacking overt subjects allows a principled solution for problems relating to Binding Theory.

Within Government and Binding theory, the existence and distribution of PRO followed from the PRO Theorem, which states that PRO may not be governed. More recent analyses have abandoned the PRO Theorem. Instead, PRO is taken to be in complementary distribution with overt subjects because it is the only item that is able to carry null case which is checked for by non-finite Tense Markers (T), for example the English to in control infinitives.