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prodromous

prodromous adjective: precursory.

Adjective

prodromous (not comparable)

  1. precursory.
    • Prodromous Clouds whose edges are fringed with Gold, comfort us with the hopes of an approaching greater Light, which when the Sun is up, do but darken the Horizon.1678, Vincent Alsop, Melius Inquirendum, page 123
    • Thus we have a Day-star to tell us that day is at hand; something prodromous concerning almost all the great things promised, and looked for, as might be more largely showne, if that were my proper work.2023, Manasseh ben Israel, Menasseh ben Israel's Mission to Oliver Cromwell, page 92
  2. Pertaining to signs or symptoms that precede the onset of a disease.
    • Where the second eye was quite free from prodromous symptoms, Græfe has seen it frequently affected shortly after operation on the first, somewhere about 10 per cent.1865, Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society, page 46
    • They were characterized in the prodromous period by the severity of the pain in the head and back, great prostration of strength, anxiety, agitation, stupor, and sometimes by delirium.1873, Armand Trousseau, Lectures on Clinical Medicine - Volume 1, page 72
  3. Prophylactic.
    • Whichever view is taken, it is equally antagonistic to the rule of prodromous catheterism in forceps-delivery.1881 September, James More, “Edinburgh Medical Journal”, in The Use of the Catheter before Forceps-Delivery, volume 21, page 250
    • Prodromous irrigation1928, Japanese Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, page 244

Noun

prodromous

  1. A sign of something to come; a harbinger.
    • The neglect of this has led to much difference of opinion, and a great deal of vain and idle discussion: one party affirming that the disease consists essentially in the direct and immediate impression of the morbific cause upon the susceptibilities of the living organization; the other, that this...1833, Eli Geddings, “Phjysiologico-Pathological Observations on Follicular Gastro-enteritis”, in Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal and Review, page 70
    • The prodromous had rung for Oliver and was giving him a most pleasant message, as well as a promise.2013, John K. Sutherland, The Elusive Miss Wakefield, page 92

Questions about prodromous

What does prodromous mean?
Prodromous means precursory.
What part of speech is prodromous?
Prodromous can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near prodromous in the dictionary

  1. prodromic
  2. prodromitid
  3. prodromitids
  4. prodromoi
  5. prodromos
  6. prodromous
  7. prodromus
  8. prodromuses
  9. prodrop
  10. prodrug
  11. prodrugs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prodromous (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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