petr-

1. variant of petro- ¹ before a vowel:

   petrous.

Example Sentences

There was Petr Miller, a forgeman from the Prague ČKD plant.

From The Daily Beast

In fact, the ancient definition was "Concha petr adhrens," and would apply to any shells attached to rocks.

From Project Gutenberg

If you ever show yourself in my cottage again, or even under the windows, look out, Petr!

From Project Gutenberg

Petr stood petrified, without moving from the spot, when the innocent child lisped out Pidrkas words to him.

From Project Gutenberg

See here, Petr: a beauty will stand before you in a moment; do whatever she commands; if notyou are lost for ever.

From Project Gutenberg

Petr doubted his senses, and stood thoughtfully before them, with both hands upon his sides.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use petr-

What does petr- mean?

Petr– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “rock” or “stone.” It is very rarely used in scientific terms.

Petr– comes from Greek pétra, meaning “rock.” Two Latin translations of pétra are lapis and saxum, both meaning “stone,” which are the roots of terms such as lapis lazuli and saxifrage, respectively. To learn more, check out our entries for both words.

What are variants of petr-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with certain consonants, petr– becomes petri–. Another variant of petr– is petro–. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use petri– and petro– articles.

Examples of petr-

One example of the few words that feature the form petr– is petrous, a term from anatomy meaning “noting or pertaining to the hard dense portion of the temporal bone.” Petrous comes from Latin petrōsus, which features the equivalent of petr– in that language.

The petr– part of the word means “rock,” as we know. The suffix –ous means “possessing; full of.” Petrous literally translates to “full of rock.”

What are some words that use the combining form petr-?

• petrichor

What are some other forms that petr– may be commonly confused with?

• per-
• peri-
• peta-
• pro-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters petro– or petr-, such as petronel or petrel, is necessarily using the combining form petr– to denote “rock.” Learn why petrel is the name of a seabird at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

The term ichor comes from Greek mythology, in which it refers to a magical fluid that flows in the veins of the gods. With this in mind, what smell does petrichor literally refer to?