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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

progress.

Movement or advancement through a series of events, or points in time; development through time.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɹəʊ.ɡɹɛs/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹɑ.ɡɹɛs/General-American/-ɹəs/General-American/ˈpɹoʊ.ɡɹɛs/Canada
  1. Movement or advancement through a series of events, or points in time; development through time.

    uncountable · usually
    Testing for the new antidote is currently in progress.
  2. Specifically, advancement to a higher or more developed state; development, growth.

    uncountable · usually
    Science has made extraordinary progress in the last fifty years.
  3. An official journey made by a monarch or other high personage; a state journey, a circuit.

    uncountable · usually
  4. A journey forward; travel.

    archaic · uncountable · usually
  5. Movement onwards, forwards, or towards a specific objective or direction; advance.

    uncountable · usually
    The thick branches overhanging the path made progress difficult.
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/pɹəˈɡɹɛs/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/pɹəˈɡɹes/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. To move, go, or proceed forward; to advance.

    intransitive
    Visitors progress through the museum at their own pace.
  2. To develop.

    intransitive
    Societies progress unevenly.
  3. To develop. To improve; to become better or more complete.

    broadly · intransitive
  4. To expedite.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.