Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Being on time; punctual.
  • adjective Carried out or performed without delay.
  • transitive verb To move to act; spur; incite.
  • transitive verb To give rise to; inspire.
  • transitive verb To assist with a reminder; remind.
  • transitive verb To assist (an actor or reciter) by providing the next words of a forgotten passage; cue.
  • noun The act of prompting or giving a cue.
  • noun A reminder or cue.
  • noun Computers A symbol that appears on a monitor to indicate that the computer is ready to receive input.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In com., a limit of time given for payment for merchandise purchased, the limit being stated on a note of reminder called a prompt-note.
  • noun Information suggested or prompted.
  • Ready; quick to act as occasion demands; acting with cheerful alacrity; ready and willing: as, prompt in obedience or compliance.
  • Given or performed without delay; quick; ready; not delayed.
  • Hasty; forward; abrupt.
  • Inclined or disposed.
  • Synonyms Early, timely, punctual.
  • To move or excite to action; incite; instigate.
  • To assist (a learner or speaker) by suggesting something forgotten or imperfectly learned or known, or by pronouncing the words next in order: as, to prompt a pupil; to prompt an actor.
  • To dictate; suggest to the mind; inspire.
  • To remind; put (one) in mind.
  • Synonyms Actuate, Impel, Induce, etc.(see actuate), incline, dispose, suggest to. See list under impel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To assist or induce the action of; to move to action; to instigate; to incite.
  • transitive verb To suggest; to dictate.
  • transitive verb To remind, as an actor or an orator, of words or topics forgotten.
  • noun (Com.) A limit of time given for payment of an account for produce purchased, this limit varying with different goods. See prompt-note.
  • adjective Ready and quick to act as occasion demands; meeting requirements readily; not slow, dilatory, or hesitating in decision or action; responding on the instant; immediate; ; -- said of persons.
  • adjective Done or rendered quickly, readily, or immediately; given without delay or hesitation; -- said of conduct.
  • adjective obsolete Easy; unobstructed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective archaic Ready, willing (to act).
  • adjective Quick, acting without delay.
  • adjective On time, punctual.
  • noun A reminder or cue
  • noun computing A symbol that appears on a monitor to indicate that the computer is ready to receive input.
  • noun writing A suggestion for inspiration given to an author.
  • verb To lead someone toward what they should say or do.
  • verb - to show or tell an actor/person the words they should be saying, or actions they should be doing.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective according to schedule or without delay; on time
  • noun (computer science) a symbol that appears on the computer screen to indicate that the computer is ready to receive a command
  • adjective ready and willing or quick to act
  • noun a cue given to a performer (usually the beginning of the next line to be spoken)
  • adjective performed with little or no delay
  • verb give an incentive for action
  • verb serve as the inciting cause of
  • verb assist (somebody acting or reciting) by suggesting the next words of something forgotten or imperfectly learned

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, ready, from Old French, from Latin prōmptus, from past participle of prōmere, to bring forth : prō-, forth; see pro– + emere, to take, obtain; see em- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French prompt, from Latin promptus ("visible, apparent, evident, at hand, prepated, ready, quick, prompt, inclined, disposed"), past participle of promere ("to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light"), from pro ("forth, forward") + emere ("to take, acquire, buy").

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