# progress

Pronunciation: US say "PRAH-gres" /ˈpɹɑ.ɡɹɛs/; UK say "PROH-gres" /ˈpɹəʊ.ɡɹɛs/

## Noun

1. Advancement to a higher or more developed state; growth and development over time.
   - Simple: Change toward a better or more developed state over time.
   - _The nation's economic progress lifted millions of people out of poverty._
   - _Scientific progress has transformed how we treat disease._
2. The advance of something through a sequence of events or stages, or its development as time goes on.
   - Simple: The way something moves along through a set of steps or over time.
   - _The novel charts the slow progress of a friendship over twenty years._
   - _Engineers monitored the progress of the experiment from one stage to the next._
5. Movement forward or onward, toward a place or goal.
   - Simple: Moving forward toward a place or goal.
   - _The army's progress through the valley was halted by the swollen river._
   - _Rescue crews reported slow progress reaching the stranded village._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "pruh-GRES" /pɹəˈɡɹɛs/

3. To go forward or move on, from one place, step or stage to the next, as when a queue moves along or a team goes through to the next round.
   - Simple: To keep moving forward or onward.
   - _The discussion progressed from small details to the larger plan._
   - _Crews progress along the tunnel a few meters each day._
4. Of something such as an illness, a story or a situation: to develop or unfold over time, changing as it goes on.
   - Simple: To grow and develop, taking shape over time.
   - _The illness progressed through several distinct stages._
   - _Plot lines progress as the series unfolds._
6. To improve or get better over time, as a person, a skill, or a condition does.
   - Simple: To get better or more complete over time.
   - _Her Spanish began to progress quickly once she spent a summer living with a host family._
   - _Students who practice every day tend to progress faster than those who cram._
7. To move a task, plan, or process forward; to push it along toward completion.
   - Simple: To push a task or plan forward so it gets done.
   - _The committee agreed to progress the proposal to the next round._
   - _She progressed the paperwork so the sale could close on time._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A ceremonial journey or circuit made by a monarch or other dignitary in an official capacity.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5** — Latin prōgredī ("to go forward, advance"), made of pro- ("forth, before") and gradi ("to walk, go"), gave prōgressus ("an advance"); Old French had it as progres ("a going forward"), and it came on through Middle English. It took the place of the native Old English forþgang.
**Meanings 3–4, 6–7** — This sense comes from the noun. It fell out of use in the 17th century, surviving only in the US, and was regarded as an Americanism when it was reintroduced into British English.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/progress (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).