Word.ws English Dictionary

PTB

PTB proper noun: proto-Tibeto-Burman. Also the initialism of powers that be.

Proper noun

PTB

  1. Proto-Tibeto-Burman
    • [E]ven reconstructed syllable-initial units, such as his Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB) and PLB [Proto-Lolo-Burmese] prefixed spirantal initial *C-s and his PTB and PLB voiceless spirantal initial *s [...] draw on syllable features and syllable-final features for their reflexes1974, R. K. Sprigg, “JAMES A. MATISOFF: The Loloish tonal split revisited. (Research Monograph No. 7.) viii, 88 pp. Berkeley : Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies, University of California...
    • The Lahu verb tā ‛place on; put on; set on; stand sthg. upright’ has impeccable Tibeto-Burman credentials⁹, reflecting PLB *ˀta² (cf. WB thâ) and ultimately PTB *s-ta (cf. WT sta ᛝ stad)1991, James A. Matisoff, “Areal and universal dimensions of grammatization in Lahu”, in Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Bernd Heine, editors, Approaches to Grammaticalization, volume 2, →DOI, →ISBN, page...

Also used as

PTB is also the initialism of powers that be.

PTB is also the initialism of preterm birth.

PTB is also the initialism of pulmonary tuberculosis.

PTB is also the initialism of polypyrimidine tract-binding protein.

PTB is also the initialism of public test build.

PTB is also the initialism of packet too big.

Forms of PTB

pluralPTBs

Questions about PTB

What does PTB mean?
PTB means proto-Tibeto-Burman.
What part of speech is PTB?
PTB is a proper noun.

Words near PTB in the dictionary

  1. ptarmigans
  2. ptarmoscopy
  3. ptarmus
  4. PTAs
  5. ptas.
  6. PTB
  7. PTBD
  8. ptbl
  9. PTBNL
  10. PTBNLs
  11. PTBT

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: PTB (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “PTB.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ptb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.