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Definition of prompt - 5 dictionary results

prompt

  [prompt] adjective, -er, -est, verb, noun
Use prompt in a Sentence
–adjective
1. done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay: a prompt reply.
2. ready in action; quick to act as occasion demands.
3. quick or alert: prompt to take offense.
4. punctual.
–verb (used with object)
5. to move or induce to action: What prompted you to say that?
6. to occasion or incite; inspire: What prompted his resignation?
7. to assist (a person speaking) by suggesting something to be said.
8. Theater. to supply (an actor, singer, etc.) from offstage with a missed cue or forgotten line.
–verb (used without object)
9. Theater. to supply forgotten lines, lyrics, or the like to an actor, singer, etc.
–noun
10. Commerce.
a. a limit of time given for payment for merchandise purchased, the limit being stated on a note of reminder (prompt note).
b. the contract setting the time limit.
11. the act of prompting.
12. something serving to suggest or remind.
13. Computers. a message or symbol from a computer system to a user, generally appearing on a display screen, requesting more information or indicating that the system is ready for user instructions.
—Idiom
14. take a prompt, (in acting) to move or speak in response to a cue.
Origin:
1300–50; (v.) ME < ML prōmptāre to incite, L: to distribute, freq. of prōmere to bring out, equiv. to prō- pro- 1 + (e)mere to take, buy; (adj.) late ME < L promptus ready, prompt, special use of ptp. of prōmere

Related forms:
promptly, adverb
promptness, noun

Synonyms:
5. urge, spur, instigate, impel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To prompt
prompt   (prŏmpt)   
adj.   prompt·er, prompt·est
  1. Being on time; punctual.
  2. Carried out or performed without delay: a prompt reply.
tr.v.   prompt·ed, prompt·ing, prompts
  1. To move to act; spur; incite: A noise prompted the guard to go back and investigate.
  2. To give rise to; inspire: The accident prompted a review of school safety policy.
  3. To assist with a reminder; remind.
  4. To assist (an actor or reciter) by providing the next words of a forgotten passage; cue.
n.  
    1. The act of prompting or giving a cue.
    2. A reminder or cue.
    3. A prompt note.
    4. The time limit stipulated in a prompt note.
  2. Computer Science A symbol that appears on a monitor to indicate that the computer is ready to receive input.
  3. Business
    1. A prompt note.
    2. The time limit stipulated in a prompt note.

[Middle English, ready, from Old French, from Latin prōmptus, from past participle of prōmere, to bring forth : prō-, forth; see pro-1 + emere, to take, obtain; see em- in Indo-European roots.]
prompt'er n., promp'ti·tude' (prŏmp'tĭ-tōōd', -tyōōd'), prompt'ness (prŏmpt'nĭs) n., prompt'ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Prompt

Prompt\, n. (Com.) A limit of time given for payment of an account for produce purchased, this limit varying with different goods. See Prompt-note.

To cover any probable difference of price which might arise before the expiration of the prompt, which for this article [tea] is three months. --J. S. Mill.

Prompt

Prompt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prompted; p. pr. & vb. n. Prompting.]

1. To assist or induce the action of; to move to action; to instigate; to incite.

God first . . . prompted on the infirmities of the infant world by temporal prosperity. --Jer. Taylor.

2. To suggest; to dictate.

And whispering angles prompt her golden dreams. --Pope.

3. To remind, as an actor or an orator, of words or topics forgotten.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : prompt
Spanish: pronto, inmediato; puntual,
German: She's usually so prompt.prompt,
Japanese: そくざの
More Translations »

prompt  (v.)
c.1340, from O.Fr. prompt (1219), from L. promptus "brought forth, at hand, ready, quick," prop. pp. of promere "to bring forth," from pro- "forward" + emere "to take" (see exempt). Theatrical sense of "to assist a speaker with lines" is first recorded 1428. The adj. is first recorded 1432.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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